Care responsibilities are excluding and holding back millions of women worldwide from taking paid employment. With climate and demographic changes on course to increase the demand for care, measures to support the care economy are urgently needed, according to a new ILO brief.
GENEVA (ILO News)—An estimated 708 million women worldwide are out of the labor force because of unpaid care responsibilities, according to new ILO global estimates released on Tuesday, the International Day of Care and Support.
In 2023, 748 million people (aged 15 or older) were not participating in the global labor force because of care responsibilities, accounting for a third of all working-age persons outside of the labor force. Of these, 708 million were women, and 40 million were men.
The new estimates, presented in the ILO Statistical Brief The Impact of Care Responsibilities on Women’s Labor Force Participation, are derived from data from 125 countries. They indicate that care responsibilities present the main barrier to women entering and staying in the labor force. At the same time, men are more likely to cite other personal reasons for being outside the labor force, such as education and health issues.
This stark gender discrepancy highlights the disproportionate role that women take on in child-rearing, care, and support for persons with disabilities and those in need of long-term care, housekeeping, and other care responsibilities.
Globally, around 1.6 billion women and 800 million men are outside the labour force, with 45 per cent of these women and 5 per cent of these men citing care responsibilities as the reason for their non-participation. Among women aged 25 to 54, the proportion citing care as the reason for being outside the workforce rises to two-thirds (379 million women). Women with lower education and those in rural areas also face higher barriers to workforce participation due to care responsibilities.
“Women shoulder a disproportionate share of care responsibilities, preventing their participation in the labor force due to factors such as low education levels, limited job opportunities, poor infrastructure, rural residence, and inadequate care and support systems. Additionally, societal expectations and norms around caregiving further restrict women’s labor market inclusion and deepen gender inequalities”- Sukti Dasgupta, Director of the Conditions of Work and Equality Department.
Regionally, the highest percentage of women outside the labor force citing care responsibilities as the reason is in Northern Africa (63 percent of women outside the labor force), followed by the Arab States (59 percent). In Asia and the Pacific, the figure is 52 percent, with little variation in the subregions. In the Americas, the variation is stark, with 47 percent citing care as the main reason for being outside the labor force in Latin America and the Caribbean, compared to just 19 percent in Northern America. In Europe and Central Asia, 21 per cent of women report caregiving as the main barrier, with Eastern Europe having the lowest rate globally (11 per cent).
“These new ILO data expose important inequalities in the world of work due to unequal care responsibilities and highlight the power of data to improve our understanding of the care economy. The ILO has made decent work in the care economy a top priority and is working towards new statistical standards to improve care work data,” explained Rafael Diez de Medina, Chief Statistician and Director of the Department of Statistics.
In light of such systemic gender-based inequalities, the ILO’s membership adopted the landmark Resolution concerning decent work and the care economy at the ILO’s International Labour Conference in June 2024. The Resolution is the first global tripartite agreement on the issue, paving the way for countries to tackle the challenges and harness the opportunities presented by the care economy. It states that “a well-functioning care economy not only supports individuals and families but also contributes to a healthier workforce, creates jobs and enhances productivity.” The Resolution also highlights the “structural barriers” that unpaid care work creates for women in their participation, retention, and progression in the labor force.
“The way care is currently organized tends to reinforce the gender and social inequalities we are striving to overcome. The ILO Resolution on Decent Work and the Care Economy calls for policies and systems that counter inequalities in terms of who receives and provides care, address the barriers preventing many women from entering, remaining and progressing in paid work, and improve the conditions of all care workers and, by extension, the quality of care,” explained ILO Director -General Gilbert F. Houngbo.
The most recent previous estimate, from 2018, found that 606 million women and 41 million men (a total of 647 million people worldwide) were not participating in the labor force due to care responsibilities. Although the new estimates are not comparable due to methodology changes, they confirm that care responsibilities continue to be the main reason women are not looking or are not available for employment.
ILO data show that since 2018 many countries have made progress in promoting the participation of women carers by increasing investments in early childhood care and education. However, in a world being reshaped by demographic shifts, with ageing populations, and climate change, which intensifies unpaid care work, the demand for care services is likely to increase. The recent ILO Resolution underlines the importance of adequate investment in care policies. It will be essential if we are to tackle growing inequality and move towards greater social justice.
