This note is a co-publication of the Center for Global Development, the Asia Foundation, CIPPEC, Women Deliver, and the International Center for Research on Women. It was developed in support of the Global Alliance for Care.
The care economy is a complex and evolving system that has seen multifaceted challenges and opportunities at the global level over the last few years. Both paid and unpaid care work display a sustained gender imbalance, heavily relying on women and girls in all their diversity. Patriarchal gender norms often lead to unequal care responsibilities between men and boys and women and girls, minimizing and marginalizing the role of men in caring for children, people with disabilities, and older people. Addressing these norms is crucial for driving a paradigm shift that puts care at the center of our societies and economies and transforms its social organization. Demographic changes combined with humanitarian crises have led to an unprecedented demand for all kinds of care and support. In recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic, increased conflict, and climate disasters have exacerbated care responsibilities and exposed our fragile and inadequate care and support infrastructures worldwide. However, care worker shortages and decent work deficits persist, and unpaid care work remains unrecognized in terms of its economic and social contributions. It is projected that by 2030, 475 million more formal jobs will be needed to meet global care demands, while global investments in universal childcare and long-term care (LTC) services could generate 280 million jobs in that period.
Following the Women Deliver (WD2023) Care Economy Pre-Conference and several global and regional convenings on care, numerous recommendations have emerged to catalyze change; this includes the 2024 International Labour Conference where a historic Resolution concerning decent work and the care economy was adopted and the Bali Care Economy Dialogue, which resulted in a care economy roadmap for Asia and the Pacific. These convenings, as well as the focus on care within the Generation Equality Forum (GEF) and the establishment of the multi-stakeholder Global Alliance for Care; international resolutions at the United Nations; and regional and global fora like Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the G7, and the G20, reflect a growing global recognition of the importance of care work as a social investment and public good that drives inclusive and sustainable development.
Despite this recognition, extensive policy, program delivery, data, and financing gaps, and a lack of coordination persist. Further, context-specific and common policy asks and recommendations across the 5R Framework for Decent Care Work (recognize, reduce, and redistribute unpaid care work, and reward and represent paid care work) of care exist, but their translation into a coherent and shared global approach remains a critical gap. This highlights the need for a strategic roadmap for action at the global level.
The Global Roadmap for Action on the Care Economy (GRAC) provides a strategic framework that maps the global care landscape and its opportunities, highlights existing data and gaps in measurement, supports coordination and de-siloing efforts, and provides insights to inform future advocacy, research, policy action, and financing. The GRAC focuses on specific recommendations and existing metrics to highlight care at key global moments, with the ultimate goal of elevating and integrating care on a global scale by 2030.
The GRAC is a tool for policymaking, advocacy, and coordination for stakeholders working to influence change in the global care economy, including:
- International Organizations and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) can leverage the GRAC to coordinate international strategies to address gaps in the care economy.
- Advocacy Groups and Networks can use the document to amplify advocacy efforts, provide agreed-upon definitions, and align engagement and messaging on care at key global moments.
- Policy Researchers can use the GRAC to better understand existing data tracking mechanisms, metrics, and indicators to measure investments and progress on care-related issues, as well as highlight key gaps in care data metrics and indicators that require additional research and data collection.
- Policymakers can use the GRAC to support their bilateral and multilateral policymaking and internal advocacy at the national and local levels.
- Donors can use the GRAC to identify gaps that need funding and integrate them with current and future priorities.
This document will also be useful to anyone else who desires a comprehensive understanding of how to improve the care economy and specific levers to do so.
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