Care Economies in Context; Caring Across Generations; Inequality in Childcare: The Case of Nannies; Investing in Inclusive and Sustainable Care: A Macroeconomic Approach to Understanding Care in Mongolia

Reports Policy Briefs

A Toolkit on Paid and Unpaid Carework: From 3Rs to 5Rs

UN Women’s 2022 report, “A Toolkit on Paid and Unpaid Carework: From 3Rs to 5Rs” serves as how-to guide for promoting the rights and wellbeing of care providers and recipients around the world.

7 key recommendations emerge from the report

  1. Recognize, reduce, and redistribute unpaid care work, and reward and represent paid care work.
  2. Reward and represent paid care workers by ensuring decent work and social protection, including for migrant
    workers.
  3. Consider resilience in the 5R framework.
  4. Protect and promote public care systems.
  5. Engage the private sector.
  6. Improve data and statistics on care.
  7. Develop a virtual care toolkit.

Abstract

The toolkit on paid and unpaid care work serves as an introductory reference, or “how-to guide,” for those working on care as a means to achieve gender equality, the empowerment of women and girls, and the Sustainable Development Goals and to promote the rights and wellbeing of care providers and recipients, be they children, older persons, or persons with illness or disabilities.

It is tailored to actors who are just getting started in this field or hoping to learn more about the multiple, intersecting aspects of paid and unpaid care work.

This toolkit builds on the original “Toolkit on recognizing, reducing and redistributing unpaid work and care,” a product of the 2017 UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment.

This updated toolkit follows the International Labour Organization’s “5R framework for decent care work”: Recognize, reduce, and redistribute unpaid care work, and reward and represent paid care work by promoting decent work for care workers and guaranteeing their representation, social dialogue, and collective bargaining.

It additionally contextualizes care in a dynamic global environment where providers and recipients of care and domestic work are subjected to crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and conflict and identifies resources that offer comprehensive solutions and learning relevant to each “R”.