Getting serious about supporting the care economy 

News: Recently, the World has celebrated March 8 as International Women’s Day. This year, to commemorate International Women’s Day, the ILO brought out its new report titled, ‘Care at work: investing in care leave and services for a more gender-equal world of work”.  

What is Care economy?

It includes care work, which encompasses direct activities such as feeding a baby or nursing an ill partner, and indirect activities such as cooking and cleaning work. The care work may be paid (such as domestic workers and anganwadis in India) or unpaid in nature.  

Importance of focusing on care services

It is worth mentioning that care work is vital for human well-being and economies across the world. 

The care services have the potential to create an additional 300 million jobs globally. Most of these jobs will be for women. The focus on care services can ensure female labour force participation.  

The importance of care work is now widely acknowledged. It has been covered in various international commitments such as the SDGs and the International Labour Organization (ILO)’s Centenary Declaration.  

What are the issues in care work? 

Unpaid care work: It is linked to labour market inequalities. It has not received adequate attention in policy formulation.  

Paid care workers: These also struggle to access rights and entitlements as workers. 

At present, the care economy has grown a lot. But the investment in the sector has not taken the same pace.  

Maternity leave is a universal human and labour right. It remains unfulfilled across countries.  

What are achievements and issues in the story of the care economy in India? 

Good measures taken so far in India 

India offers 26 weeks of maternity leave. It is more than against the ILO’s standard mandate of 14 weeks.  

Indian laws mandates the factories and other establishments to provide the crèche facility.  

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act and the minimum wage legislations have been made applicable to domestic workers in India.  

Issues 

The maternity leave in India is restricted to a tiny proportion of women workers. It is limited to formally employed women. However, 89% of employed women are in informal employment.  

The paternity leave is not provided in many countries, including India. It further exacerbates gender inequity. 

In India, access to quality and affordable childcare, elderly care and care for people with disabilities services is a challenge.  

Care workers like childcare and anganwadi workers have not been recognised as professional work in India. Therefore, they do not have requisite access to workers’ rights and entitlements 

The domestic workers do not have access to decent work. They do not have social or health protection measures. The fact that 26 lakhs of the 39 lakh domestic workers in India are female worsens the situation 

India spends less than 1% of its GDP on the care economy;  

Ways Forward 

There government need to increased percentage of spending on care economy in India.  

The government need to develop a strategy and action plan for improved care policies and decent working conditions for care workers. It should frame them while consulting employers’, workers’ organisations and the relevant stakeholders in the sector. 

The decision makers can adopt a 5R framework proposed by the ILO. It refers to Recognition, Reduction, and Redistribution of unpaid care work, promotes Rewarding care workers with more and decent work, and enables their Representation in social dialogue and collective bargaining.  

The domestic workers should have rights and access to fair wages, and good working conditions. They should have access to social protection, among other benefits. 

The International Labour Organization (ILO) should take a lead to set labour standards, develop policies and devise programmes to promote decent work for all women and men. It is the only tripartite UN agency that brings together governments, employers, and workers of 187 member States. 

The paternity leave should be recognised. It acts as an enabler for both mothers and fathers to better balance work and family responsibilities throughout their lives. 

The right steps to improve the care economy can lead to child development, aging in dignity and independent living and also generate more and better employment opportunities, especially for women. 

Source: The post is based on an article “Getting serious about supporting the care economy” published in The Hindu on 11th April 2022.