Care economy

The Care economy Community of Practice catalyses more gender-smart capital towards the care economy – across paid and unpaid care – as well as underlying infrastructure and the wider care economy value chain. 

The group builds further awareness and engagement, enhances collective capacity for investment, facilitates financial commitments, and unlocks investment that reduces the uneven distribution of unpaid care and domestic work for women and girls.

Supported by

What is the care economy?

Care work - which includes paid and unpaid, formal and informal domestic work and care of people (children, elderly, disabled, special needs etc.) - underpins and drives economic, social and environmental wellbeing. It is a lever for intersectional gender equity. The disproportionate burden of unpaid care work on women causes them to do less paid work, enter lower quality jobs and reduce their overall labour force participation rates. Reliable access to affordable and quality care is widely recognised as a driver of women’s increased workforce participation.

Why should investors care?

Investing in care is good for the full spectrum of the economy- employees, investors and other stakeholders. It is estimated that if 2% of global GDP were invested in the care economy, there would be an increase in overall employment ranging from 2.4%-6.1% in OECD countries and 1.2% to 3.2% in emerging markets. Furthermore, providing childcare to women could add USD 3 trillion to global GDP and expanding the childcare workforce to meet the current needs can create 43 million jobs globally. 

In addition, demand for care is increasing rapidly; for instance, demand for paid care services is projected to rise from 8.7% of global GDP in 2015 to 14.9% in 2030.Ageing populations, displacement and health issues stemming from climate change, changing family structures and care needs, increased care dependency ratios combined with increased levels of women’s employment in certain countries, have created demand for alternative (paid) care provisions. The number of care recipients is projected to reach 2.3 billion by 2030, a 10% increase from 2015.

Get involved

If you’d like to be actively involved in Community of Practice conversations, talk to us about membership.

We also commissioned two research briefs to give investors more context on the challenges and opportunities around investing in care. The first is a primer on what the care economy spans, what different business types are emerging and the breadth of the sector to set up the foundation for investing in the care economy. The second brief provides practical guidance to investors and employers on how to engage.

The audience for both briefs are investors, investment influencers and related actors who are interested in starting or deepening their engagement with the care economy in terms of allocating more gender-smart capital towards this investment theme.

Tools & knowledge

Featured
Research and reports
2019, Care economy, Women's economic empowerment
Business Briefing on Unpaid Care and Domestic Work
Research and reports
2019, Care economy, Women's economic empowerment

From Oxfam & Unilever - There is growing evidence that business leaders and managers understand that the unequal and heavy share of unpaid care and domestic work done by women and girls is an issue which matters to the effective (on-going) operations of their firms. Some companies have already taken practical steps to address the issue by supporting employees along their value chain, for example with workplace policies that enable care responsibilities to be met, and by innovating with products and services that meet the evolving needs of consumer family and household care, so simultaneously creating business value.

This Oxfam/Unilever Business Briefing shares complementary learning and insights gleaned from working on unpaid care and domestic work with communities and consumers around the world, and with businesses and brands to share emerging good practice and evidence.

Research and reports
2019, Care economy, Women's economic empowerment
2022, Care economy, 2X reports
Engaging with the care economy: a guide for investors, employers, and corporate actors
2022, Care economy, 2X reports

In order to amplify the importance of the care economy, provide investors with an understanding, raise awareness and spotlight actionable roadmaps, the GenderSmart & 2X Collaborative Care Economy Working Group 16 commissioned two briefs. This second brief provides practical guidance to investors and employers on how to engage.

2022, Care economy, 2X reports
2022, Care economy, 2X reports
Investing in the care economy: a primer for gender-smart investors
2022, Care economy, 2X reports

In order to amplify the importance of the care economy, provide investors with an understanding, raise awareness and spotlight actionable roadmaps, the GenderSmart & 2X Collaborative Care Economy Working Group 16 commissioned two briefs. This first brief is a primer on what the care economy spans, what different business types are emerging and the breadth of the sector to set up the foundation for investing in the care economy.

2022, Care economy, 2X reports
Research and reports
2022, Care economy, Development finance
Development finance institutions and the care economy: opportunities for building more resilient and gender-equitable economies
Research and reports
2022, Care economy, Development finance

Jessica Espinoza Trujano & Anne-Marie Lévesque (Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment)- “Development finance institutions (DFIs) play a major role in mobilizing private sector investments in developing countries. While there has recently been an increasing interest among DFIs in gender-lens investing, these efforts have been somewhat blind to the question of women’s unpaid work and have not yet led to a stronger investment focus on the care economy. Adopting what has been defined by other feminist scholars as a transformative approach to care, this article analyses the potential transformative effects of private sector investments in the care economy by DFIs to help build more resilient and gender-equitable economies following the global COVID-19 pandemic. The authors find there is significant potential for DFIs to approach investments with a more strategic gender- and care-lens and contribute to the recognition, reduction, redistribution, reward, and representation of care work, in line with their objective to promote sustainable socioeconomic development in developing countries.”

Research and reports
2022, Care economy, Development finance
2022, Care economy, Women entrepreneurs
Childcare Solutions for Women Micro and Small Enterprises
2022, Care economy, Women entrepreneurs

By Donor Committee on Enterprise Development. Care work, in all its forms, is a critical social good. It is essential for the provisioning of society and provides the foundation upon which our market economies function. Most care work across the world is unpaid, and its distribution is strongly gendered: more than three-quarters of all unpaid care work globally is carried out by women. A growing body of research has explored the relationship between childcare and women’s economic empowerment in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The results suggest that childcare provision can improve women’s labour market outcomes across a number of measures, including employment, income, and transitioning from the informal to the formal sector. Based on these promising links, further research has sought to develop the ‘business case’ for care - focusing largely on two avenues: public investment in childcare provision and formal, employer-supported childcare. A ‘missing middle’ between these two well-documented models, of great relevance for development actors focused on promoting childcare solutions in LMICs, is about meeting the childcare needs of women micro and small enterprises (MSEs), including self-employed workers.

2022, Care economy, Women entrepreneurs
COVID-19, 2022, Care economy
Towards a Caring Economy
COVID-19, 2022, Care economy

As society emerges from COVID-19 into a recovery economy, questions about the future of care also emerge. What organizational and policy changes are needed to ensure that care work and caregiving is more equal and sustainable? And what research questions on the care economy remain to be investigated? To explore these lines of inquiry, the Institute for Gender and the Economy convened a virtual research roundtable on Care Work in the Recovery Economy in January and February of 2022 with support from Women and Gender Equality Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The workshop hosted over 60 scholars and practitioners from around the world who presented their cutting-edge research, identified research agendas, and discussed policy implications for the future of care. This report by Rotman Institute for Gender and the Economy highlights key policy and research insights from the roundtable.

COVID-19, 2022, Care economy
Research and reports
Policy, Care economy
Care at work: Investing in care leave and services for a more gender equal world of work
Research and reports
Policy, Care economy

From The International Labour Organisation (ILO)- “The report provides a global overview of national laws and practices regarding care policies, namely maternity protection, paternity, parental and other care-related leave policies, as well as childcare and long-term care services.”

Research and reports
Policy, Care economy
Research and reports
Care economy, Storytelling and narrative, Women's economic empowerment
Recovering from COVID-19: The case for investing in childcare
Research and reports
Care economy, Storytelling and narrative, Women's economic empowerment

From The International Development Research Center (IDRC)- This IDRC evidence review looks at the impact of COVID 19 on gender equality and women’s rights and makes the case for investing in child care.

Research and reports
Care economy, Storytelling and narrative, Women's economic empowerment
Data and tools
Care economy, Data
Factsheet: Care in Crisis
Data and tools
Care economy, Data

From International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA)- This is a factsheet created by IWDA on the value of care in the time of COVID-19. The COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated more than ever that care work, paid and unpaid, underpins economic and social life in all societies. It is critical to sustaining society’s wellbeing, supporting people to live meaningful and healthy lives.

Data and tools
Care economy, Data