Fourth Event of the RedCUIDAR+: Care policies: how to transform a growing sector into an opportunity for employment with a gender perspective

Care policies for older adults living with reduced functional capacity and older people with disabilities with support needs are a priority in Latin American and Caribbean countries and the European Union. Its emergence on the public agenda is caused by the concurrence of three factors: (i) the broad recognition of the right of people to be cared for; (ii) the increasing mobilization around women's rights (and especially three intertwined claims: the co-responsibility of the couple in care, the increased participation of women in the formal labor market, the remuneration and valorization of care work, mostly performed by women) and (iii) increased demand for care as a result of the widening life expectancy in the population.

On the other hand, the health crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of robust care systems to contain pressure on the health sector while showing the high informality rates and precarious conditions in which care work is generally carried out. In addition, the mandatory confinement adopted in many countries to contain contagion has highlighted the workload of unvisitable and unpaid care that women mainly assume in their family nuclei, away from the labor market, professional development or even education systems.

Economic and social recovery may also be an opportunity for this sector and specifically for caregivers (including families who do not receive remuneration nor contribute towards social security). In the face of a greater need for these services, the creation of care systems for older people experiencing reduced functional capacity can be seen as a source of income and employment generation. Investment in the sector can have a high return both economically and from the point of view of the well-being of older people and their caregivers.

The growth of the sector, however, needs to occur in an orderly manner, regulating, formalizing, and professionalizing the sector in a logic of articulation and integration of public services, private services and family responsibilities spread between women and men. The professionalization of the occupation will necessarily result in a higher quality of services and, consequently, in the well-being and a better quality of life of the cared for people. In addition, investing on formalization, professionalization, and decent work in the care sector is a crucial investment in moving towards gender equality, helping to close gaps in access to labor rights and future benefits such as retirements.

In the light of all these considerations, the fourth meeting of the RedCUIDAR+ proposes a dialogue on the opportunities represented by the work associated with care, the main challenges facing the generation of formal, professionalized and gender-sensitive employment and public policies that allow progress towards this objective. We propose this reflection from two angles: (i) a global look at the field of care work in Latin America and (ii) a concrete analysis of how the issue of formalization and professionalization has been addressed in a European country such as France, where incentives for the formalization of care services have had a positive impact on the recognition of this sector and on women's economic autonomy. This formalization is accompanied by fiscal policies and institutional efforts to enable employers to have advantages in formalizing caregivers.

Subsequently, in the space for discussion among the participants there will be an instance of deepening and dialogue on the subject, in the light of the different experiences carried out in the countries and will seek to define together the necessary steps to move towards the formalization and professionalization of care in Latin American countries, steps that may be further exchanged and assisted within the framework of the RedCUIDAR+.

This meeting is part of the activities of the Generation Equality Forum (FGI) and in particular of the Paris chapter. This Forum is a global meeting in favor of gender equality, convened by UN Women and co-chaired by the Governments of Mexico and France, with the leadership and participation of civil society. The Forum was launched in Mexico City (Mexico) from 29 to 31 March 2021 and will end in Paris (France) from 29 June to 2 July 2021. Twenty-five years after the historic Fourth World Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the most comprehensive framework for achieving women's empowerment and gender equality, the Forum is taking stock of progress and shaping a program of measures concrete steps to advance towards gender equality between now and 2030.

In this framework, the fourth meeting of RedCUIDAR + aims to analyze how care policies can transform a growing sector into an opportunity for women's labor participation.

Meeting Agenda

10:00 AM - 10:10 AM - OPENING (10 MIN)

Marc Litvine - Senior Expert, Head of Sector, Regional Programmes for Latin America and Caribe, European Commission

Maria-Noel Vaeza, Regional Director of United Nations Women (ONU Mujeres)

10:10 AM - 11:10 AM - PRESENTATIONS

REGIONAL LOOK AT LATIN AMERICA (30 MIN)

Soledad Salvador. Executive Secretary and Researcher in the Area of Gender and Development at the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies on Development (CIEDUR). Uruguay.

EXPERIENCE OF FRANCE (30 MIN)

Bruno Gregoire. Deputy Director of International. Central Agency of Social Security Organizations. France.

11:10 AM - 11:35 AM - GROUP DISCUSSION SPACE (25 MIN)

11:35 AM - 12:00 PM - CLOSING REMARKS AND CONCLUSION (25 MIN)

Francesco Maria Chiodi - Coordinator of the Social Policies Area, European Union - EUROsociaAL+