ILO, UN Highlight Economic Impact of Care Policies

The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations (UN) are calling on governments and businesses in Latin America and beyond to expand care and support systems that promote workplace inclusion, gender equality, and economic growth. The push follows a series of reports and regional frameworks highlighting that unpaid care work represents a major economic contribution while remaining largely invisible in policy and labor structures.

In its recent report Care to Compete: Corporate Policies and Practices on Care and Support for Employees with Disabilities and Employees with Dependents with Disabilities, the ILO’s Global Business and Disability Network (GBDN) emphasizes that care and support policies should be treated as strategic investments. The findings, released to mark the International Day of Care and Support on Oct. 29, show that inclusive care frameworks can improve job satisfaction, retention, and productivity. Participating companies — including multinational members of the GBDN — identified visible leadership commitment, interdepartmental implementation, and the integration of care into sustainability strategies as key elements of success.

“We learned that our best policies come from listening to employees who balance work and care responsibilities,” reads a core message of the report. However, the ILO also notes persistent challenges such as uneven regional implementation and limited access to financial support. The organization urges employers to strengthen communication around available benefits, involve employees with disabilities in policy design, and implement consistent managerial procedures to ensure fairness across markets.

These corporate findings align with a broader international agenda. The UN is advancing integrated care systems across Latin America, emphasizing their importance for gender equality, social inclusion, and sustainable development. At the regional conference Integrated Care Systems in Motion, representatives from governments, UN agencies, and civil society underscored that unpaid domestic work accounts for 18.8% to 26.8% of regional GDP, with women performing nearly three-quarters of that labor.

“When care falls disproportionately on women, they are forced to choose between professional development and family,” says Alanna Armitage, Representative in Mexico, UNFPA. “This forced choice hinders the economy and threatens long-term sustainability.” 

According to the UN, Latin American women spend up to a quarter of their time on unpaid care work, compared with as little as 3% for men. The UN’s cooperation frameworks in Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Uruguay now include initiatives to formalize care work, expand social protections, and integrate gender perspectives into national care systems.

The ILO and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) further estimate that care sector investment could generate 32 million jobs in the region by 2035. Their joint report Time to Care in Latin America and the Caribbean calls for stronger maternity, paternity, and parental leave policies, along with new long-term and emergency caregiving leave programs. Only a handful of countries meet ILO standards for paid maternity leave, and most offer fewer than 10 days of paternity leave. Limited coverage and funding, the report notes, reinforce structural inequalities in caregiving responsibilities.

“Incremental changes are not enough; bold policies are needed to redefine the course,” says José Manuel Salazar, Executive Secretary, ECLAC. The agencies recommend aligning national leave policies with international standards and financing care systems through social security mechanisms to ensure universal access.

The growing international attention on care work also reflects its economic potential. A separate ILO report found that integrating care services into public investment projects could generate up to 299 million jobs globally by 2035, nearly 80% of them for women. In Mexico, national surveys show that women still devote almost two-thirds of their working time to unpaid care, a factor contributing to persistent wage and participation gaps.

Experts agree that both public and private sectors must collaborate to transform care from an invisible burden into a recognized pillar of economic policy. As international organizations and national governments move toward integrated care frameworks, the discussion is shifting from social obligation to strategic necessity, one that links equality, productivity, and long-term sustainability.