Creating a care economy that supports women and helps communities thrive

This content was originally posted on BBC.com. 

Like Veronica, the working mother in the video below, access to quality and affordable childcare is very important to me. It enables me to focus on my job knowing that my child is safe. This is not unique to her, or to me, or even to African women; around the world, women are struggling with access to high-quality, affordable care for their children, their elders, and family members with disabilities.

And this is only one side of the equation. Equally important, yet nearly invisible in the policy discourse, are the countless women working in the care economy; women whose choices are too often nonexistent, whose stability is wholly dependent on their employer, and who are denied the dignity of economic freedom while simultaneously propping up much of the economy. 

Women’s Economic Power

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In most African countries, care work is underpaid and underregulated, allowing for abuse and neglect of those receiving care as well as those providing care. Africa has the highest level of unpaid care work in the world, with 70% of care provided by women within the family and only 3% of care work actually paid. Payment may be in the form of food, shelter, and clothing rather than money, restricting workers’ choices and keeping them from building savings. Many women caregivers are forced to leave their own children behind, and do not receive the kinds of pay, protection, and training that is afforded to workers in other professions. There are also significant inequalities in status and power that contribution to exploitation of the labor of poor and marginalized women.  

We need to rethink our approach to care. Regardless of whether someone is working in a care facility or in a domestic setting, we must build a new care ecosystem that is not just focused on those receiving the benefits of care work, but instead creates opportunities for decent work, safe and dignified care, and economic transformation for all.  

• Those who need care support must be able to trust that the people they hire have the training and experience to provide high-quality and safe care for their loved ones. Lack of regulation and professional standards means greater risk of life-threatening abuse and accidents from undertrained, stressed, or exploited care workers—and results in women forgoing their own careers to provide care instead. According to the International Labour Organization, nearly 35% of working-age women in Africa who are outside the paid labor force cite unpaid care work as the principal reason for being outside of the labor force. The skewed nature of the care industry often means that the few facilities that are available are unaffordable for most families.  
• Those providing care must benefit from a set of professional standards that deliver appropriate education, competitive wages, and fair treatment. Only then can they grow, contribute to their families and communities and access care for their own children. This is not just an altruistic exercise but also will ensure that they can provide safe and quality care without the shadow of financial stress and exploitation hanging over their heads.  
• Countries must alter their perceptions and treat care work not as low-paid, informal employment but as an avenue for decent work that contributes to collective prosperity. We know from the African Transformation Index that diversification is one of the biggest challenges holding back transformation in African countries. Imagine if we create an entirely new industry from this untapped market that injects much-needed resources into communities and countries, improving lives across the board. A recent randomized controlled trial in Uganda found that subsidizing child care led to a 44% increase in household income, driven by an increase in mothers’ business earnings and fathers’ wages. 

At the African Center for Economic Transformation, we see care work as essential to women’s empowerment, gender equity, growth, and progress. The opportunities are vast, and the cost of inaction is too high to continue the way we have been. Let Veronica’s story be a guide for us all: When we support women, entire societies thrive.