Resources

Care work and care jobs for the future of decent work is an important contribution to the ILO’s Women at Work Centenary Initiative and to the process that the ILO is un-
dertaking to guide its work for social justice as it advances into its second centenary. The Women at Work Centenary Initiative began by examining why progress in closing
the gender gaps in the world of work had been so slow and what needed to be done for real transformation. The data, research, analysis and surveys all led back to care work.
Care work, both paid and unpaid, is at the heart of humanity and our societies. Economies depend on care work to survive and thrive. Across the world, women and girls are
performing more than three-quarters of the total amount of unpaid care work and two thirds of care workers are women. Demographic, socio-economic and environmental
transformations are increasing the demand for care workers, who are often trapped in low quality jobs. If not addressed properly, current deficits in care work and its
quality will create a severe and unsustainable global care crisis and further increase gender inequalities in the world of work.