Meaning and Scope
Unpaid care work refers to services performed for family or household members without direct monetary payment.
It includes:
- cooking and cleaning;
- collecting water and fuel;
- caring for children;
- caring for elderly, sick or disabled persons;
- managing household activities;
- supporting family members emotionally and physically.
It is different from unpaid work in a family farm or enterprise, which contributes directly to market production. Care work mainly supports the daily functioning and well-being of individuals and households.
Although unpaid care work is generally excluded from conventional measures of national income, it is essential for maintaining the labour force and the wider economy.
Gender Dimension
Women perform a disproportionately large share of unpaid care work because household responsibilities are often treated as their primary social role.
This unequal distribution is shaped by:
- traditional gender norms;
- limited access to childcare services;
- inadequate public transport and basic infrastructure;
- absence of affordable elderly-care facilities;
- unequal division of household responsibilities;
- limited participation of men in domestic work.
Women in rural areas may face an additional burden because collecting water, fuel and fodder requires considerable time and physical effort.
The burden is not uniform among women. Poor women often perform unpaid care work at home while also working in low-paid informal employment.
Economic and Social Effects
Unpaid care work supports the economy by reproducing and maintaining the workforce. However, its unequal distribution creates significant costs for women.
It can reduce women’s:
- participation in paid employment;
- working hours and earnings;
- access to education and skill development;
- ability to accept distant or full-time jobs;
- savings and social-security coverage;
- opportunities for career advancement;
- time for rest, health and political participation.
Women may be classified as outside the labour force even when they spend several hours each day performing physically demanding household and care activities.
This contributes to the double burden faced by women who combine paid employment with domestic responsibilities.
Measurement and Recognition
Traditional economic indicators such as Gross Domestic Product generally count care services when they are purchased from the market but exclude similar services when performed without payment within a household.
For example, paid childcare is counted as economic production, while the same childcare provided by a parent is usually not counted.
Time-use surveys measure how individuals divide their time among paid employment, unpaid care work, learning, leisure and personal activities. They provide a clearer picture of women’s total work burden.
Better measurement can help governments design policies relating to:
- employment;
- childcare;
- social protection;
- public infrastructure;
- gender equality;
- labour-force participation.
However, assigning monetary value to unpaid care work is methodologically difficult because household care involves emotional and relational dimensions that cannot be fully captured through market wages.
Policy Approach
A comprehensive policy approach is often described through the principles of recognise, reduce and redistribute.
Recognise
Unpaid care work should be measured through time-use surveys and incorporated into policy analysis.
Reduce
Public services can reduce the time required for domestic work through:
- piped water and clean energy;
- accessible healthcare;
- childcare and elderly-care centres;
- affordable public transport;
- labour-saving household infrastructure.
Redistribute
Care responsibilities should be shared more equally among men, women, families, communities, employers and the state.
This requires:
- parental leave for both parents;
- flexible work arrangements;
- workplace childcare facilities;
- awareness campaigns on shared domestic responsibilities;
- expansion of professional care services;
- social-security support for caregivers.
Policies must avoid reinforcing the assumption that care work is exclusively a woman’s responsibility.
Conclusion
Unpaid care work is essential to society but remains economically undervalued and unequally distributed. Recognising, reducing and redistributing this work is necessary for improving women’s employment, health, economic independence and equality.
