A New Framework for Strategic Global Action on the Care Economy

In an effort to drive policy change and support global coordination efforts on the care economy, a new Global Roadmap for Action on the Care Economy (GRAC) has been developed by the Center for Global Development, The Asia Foundation, CIPPEC, Women Deliver, and the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). The roadmap was developed in support of the Global Alliance for Care, providing a strategic framework for transforming how care is recognized, valued, and represented on a global scale. To ultimately achieve this change, the GRAC offers a specific and realistic approach to track the progress necessary. The framework itself serves as a novel dashboard bringing together available data that paints a comprehensive picture of where the care economy stands and where we need to go for a resilient, just, and equitable care economy. 

The care economy—encompassing paid and unpaid work, relationships, services, activities, infrastructure, and policies—is critical for maintaining the well-being of individuals, societies, and economies. Women and girls in all their diversity spend significantly more time on both paid and unpaid care work than men. This inequality limits their participation in paid work and economic activities, a disparity that the GRAC seeks to address by sharing policy recommendations that will redistribute care responsibilities and improve care systems.

The GRAC is designed as a dynamic tool for policymakers, researchers, civil society organizations, and donors, providing evidence-based recommendations and actionable steps to elevate care as a global priority by 2030. It calls for urgent attention to policy gaps, data tracking, and funding shortfalls in the care economy, aiming to build resilient, equitable care systems that foster inclusive development.

Key takeaways and recommendations

The GRAC framework is organized around four themes: 1) investing in a sustainable care economy, 2) taking an integrated approach to coordination and advocacy, 3) accelerating policy change, and 4) improving data and evidence. All of these are critical areas to advance the care economy. Key takeaways in each area include:

• Financing: Spending on care services falls below the OECD and ILO recommended 1 percent  of GDP for pre-primary education and 10 percent of education budgets and foreign aid to education, which is necessary to ensure universal access to quality, affordable, and accessible care services. However, data for childcare for 0-2 years and long-term care service expenditures is limited, so it is difficult to understand the full financing picture.
• Integrating Care: Greater coordination and engagement among stakeholders, including through the Global Alliance for Care, is needed, especially on the part of governments. To see better inclusion and cross-cutting integration of care across multilateral fora and investments, more centralized tracking and coordination across regions is needed.
• Policy change: While data gaps exist, particularly for children aged 0-2 and on long-term care policies, there are clear opportunities to build on momentum on care policies through investments, policies, ratifications of and adherence to international conventions, and awareness building. Policy change across the care ecosystem is urgently needed to build comprehensive care systems and help achieve existing global commitments and goals.
• Data and research: Disaggregated and up-to-date data and evidence focused on care and marginalized populations is critical but is globally lacking. More research as well as data collection through national time use surveys can catalyze progress on valuing unpaid care within and beyond national GDPs.

Now is a good moment to dig into the GRAC and review its specific recommendations, indicators and metrics, and actions that need to be undertaken to accomplish the goals that we have set forward by 2030. It also highlights specific opportunities to ensure that care is integrated into key global forums and institutions like the G7, G20, UNFCCC, the World Bank, and the United Nations.

As we move forward, we hope that this roadmap serves as a crucial guide to support the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and eventually inform the development of the next set of global development goals, featuring care as a central component. 

The authors of the GRAC and its Advisory Group (to which the authors are extremely grateful for their guidance throughout the development of the GRAC) also hope that the roadmap spurs conversation and debate; we encourage you to reach out to us with questions and ideas as we all work to implement the GRAC in the coming months.