Building resilient societies starts with strengthening the care economy

The 5R Framework for Decent Care Work (Recognise, Reduce, and Redistribute unpaid care work and Reward and Represent paid care work) offers a comprehensive approach to addressing these gaps by reshaping norms, expanding decent jobs and building more gender-responsive and resilient economies. Against this backdrop, investing in care is paramount

Care is central to the functioning of societies and economies. Whether paid or unpaid, care work underpins every other sphere of work by enabling families, communities, and labour markets to function. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) Resolution concerning Decent Work and the Care Economy, adopted at the International Labour Conference in 2024, underscores that a well-structured care economy strengthens resilience to crises, mitigates brain drain, advances gender equality and inclusion, while supporting economic and social development.

Despite the indispensable nature of care work, it largely remains unrecognised, undervalued and disproportionately carried out by women. Structural inequalities and traditional gender norms have long assigned care tasks - both paid and unpaid - to women, often without adequate recognition or compensation. This unequal distribution of care work is also the leading factor keeping women out of the formal labour force, reinforced by persistent stereotypes that frame care as “women’s work” and restrict women’s economic opportunities. In Asia and the Pacific, over half of the women outside the labour force (52%) cite care responsibilities as the primary reason while in South Asia, the figure rises to 56%.

At the centre of the care economy lies a dual imperative: meeting the growing demand for care services while ensuring the rights and decent working conditions of care workers. The ILO Resolution promotes a rights-based approach rooted in international labour standards - ensuring fair wages, safe working conditions, adequate social protection for care workers, while care recipients have access to affordable, quality, and accessible care services across the life cycle.

These requirements are unfolding in an era of rapid transformation. Demographic shifts, socio-economic contexts, technological advancements, and the impacts of climate change are driving up the demand for care services. Yet availability of and access to affordable, quality care remains insufficient, hampered by underinvestment, fragmented policies, limited infrastructure, and a shortage of trained care workers.

The 5R Framework for Decent Care Work (Recognise, Reduce, and Redistribute unpaid care work and Reward and Represent paid care work) offers a comprehensive approach to addressing these gaps by reshaping norms, expanding decent jobs and building more gender-responsive and resilient economies. Against this backdrop, investing in care is paramount. Increased investment promotes quality care services, creates decent jobs, strengthens productivity, improves health and wellbeing, and advances gender equality. Most importantly, it allows women to enter and remain within the labour market.

While the State holds primary responsibility for care provision, regulation and funding, public–private partnerships can complement these efforts by expanding access and sustainability without overburdening any single sector.

In this regard, partnerships with institutions such as the World Bank Group can be catalytic. By combining financing, analytical expertise, and convening power with the ILO’s mandate and approach, countries can strengthen the policy and investment case for care, scale up quality services and infrastructure, and align reforms with decent work principles.

In Sri Lanka, recognising care as a binding constraint to women’s employment, the World Bank Group is scaling up support for childcare and eldercare systems as part of the new Sri Lanka Country Partnership Framework – ‘Job Creation Through Private sector Led Growth ’. This complements investments in skills, social protection, and labour market reforms aimed at expanding inclusive and resilient employment opportunities.

It is within this global and regional context , a South–South Learning Hub, “South-4-Care” was launched in September 2025 in Doha, Qatar to foster knowledge exchange and capacity-building on care policies for countries at different levels of development. The global event in Doha brought together governments, employers’ and workers’ organisations, and international partners, underscoring the urgency of addressing global care needs and showcasing innovative policy practices emerging from the Global South. Now, South Asia is poised to take the lead. On 21 April 2026, the ILO, in collaboration with the World Bank Group and the ITCILO, will host the second edition of the South-4-Care Learning Hub: Advancing Decent Work in the Care Economy in South Asia, in Colombo.

This moment offers a critical opportunity. Advancing decent work in the care economy is not only about responding to current needs, it is about shaping the future of work, promoting gender equality, and building more resilient societies for generations to come.

Through continued collaboration among governments, social partners and development partners, including the ILO and the World Bank Group, South Asia can accelerate country-led reforms and investments that expand quality care and deliver decent work across the care economy.

(The author is Director of International Labour Organisation Decent Work Team for South Asia and Country Office for India)

  FT Alert  

On 21 April 2026, the ILO, in collaboration with the World Bank Group and the ITCILO, will host the second edition of the South-4-Care Learning Hub: Advancing Decent Work in the Care Economy in South Asia, in Colombo