Care work sustains life, communities and economies, but it continues to be invisible and unequally distributed, falling mainly on women, especially those from marginalised communities. As highlighted at the recent Intergenerational Dialogue on Care and the Social Solidarity Economy, organised by the RIPESS Gender Commission, care is not only an individual responsibility, but a collective and public-community issue. From the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE), we demand a structural change that recognises care as a central pillar of our societies and economies. For this reason, we are launching a global campaign for International Women’s Day to join the historic mobilisation of feminist people around the world who are making visible the dynamics around the sexual division of labour and the gender gap in relation to unpaid care work.
Join this initiative to make the value of care work visible, promote structural changes and strengthen intergenerational solidarity. Care work is essential for the reproduction and sustenance of life—let’s make it visible, recognised and shared.
What is the future of the Care Economy?
Watch the video with the key messages from our members and allies from different regions who are committed to care work with a Social Solidarity Economy perspective in their local contexts.
Recognition of Care in Global Agendas
The recognition of care as a key axis for equity and sustainable development is advancing in the international arena:
SDG 5.4 of the Agenda 2030
ILO Convention 189 (2011)
Resolution A/RES/77/281 (2023)
This objective seeks to ‘recognise and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate’.
This convention, on domestic workers, encourages states to ‘adopt measures to ensure the effective promotion and protection of the human rights of all persons engaged in domestic work’.
This UN resolution recognises the role of the Social and Solidarity Economy in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and in the construction of sustainable and inclusive economic models.
International Day of Care and Support (29 October)
ILO resolution concerning decent work and the care economy (2024)
The UN declaration emphasises that ‘care work worldwide continues to be characterised by a lack of benefits and protections, low pay or lack of compensation, and exposure to physical, mental and, in some cases, sexual harm. It is clear that new solutions are needed on two fronts: with regard to the nature and provision of care policies and services, and to the terms and conditions of care work’
These efforts represent a step towards transforming the unequal division of care work between men and women into a more egalitarian organisation of care, promoting social co-responsibility between the state, the private sector, families, the social and solidarity economy (SSE) and the community (ILO, 2024, p. 2)
Resources on Care with an SSE Perspective
Together we are compiling materials that are already advancing the recognition, redistribution and enhancement of the right to care with a view to the Social and Solidarity Economy. If any relevant material is missing, please let us know at: info@ripess.org. Thank you!
A publication that seeks to highlight the Right to the City approach to diverse and inclusive economies, with its three pillars: the social and solidarity economy, the informal economy and the care economy.
By: Global Platform for the Right to the City, RIPESS, Streetnet, WIEGO and Urgenci.
A document of measures and proposals for moving towards a care model that puts life at the centre from a public-community perspective.
By: ekoSolFem, the group working on the feminist proposal of REAS Euskadi
A practical tool with theoretical content to guide political action and contribute to the incorporation of the gender perspective in the public works cycle.
By: Ana Falú and UN Women
