Pandemic policy and the care economy: A comparative analysis of care-sensitive social protection in Colombia and Costa Rica

In Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy, Kayla Alexandra Benjamin, Natalia Ramírez Bustamante, Jeremy Veillard, and Sara Allin utilize feminist political economy theory, as well as the Three R framework (which calls for recognizing, reducing, and redistributing unpaid care work), to conduct a comparative analysis of the social protection measures that Colombia and Costa Rica implemented during the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic. The authors find that Costa Rica’s care-sensitive approach was more effective in recognizing and supporting unpaid care work. However, innovations such as Bogotá’s District Care System signal emerging momentum for more comprehensive care-sensitive policy development in Colombia. The authors conclude that, in the face of demographic shifts and climate change, the need to invest in sustainable care systems is more urgent than ever, and lessons from the pandemic can help guide effective policy development.

Kayla Alexandra Benjamin is an RA on the Care Economies in Context Canada team.

Natalia Ramírez Bustamante is a member of the Care Economies in Context Colombia team.

The authors acknowledge the support of Daniela Ugarte Villalobos and Julia Niebles Fernandez. Daniela currently a Care Economies in Context RA — a role that Julia previously held as well.

Citation

Benjamin, K. A., Ramírez Bustamante, N., Veillard, J., & Allin, S. (2026). Pandemic policy and the care economy: A comparative analysis of care-sensitive social protection in Colombia and Costa Rica. Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy, 1–22. doi:10.1017/ics.2026.10094

Abstract

A growing body of literature has reported on the gendered impact of COVID-19. Unemployment and income loss are two consequences of the pandemic that disproportionately impacted women. Studies have shown that these consequences are associated with the rise in unpaid care work (UCW) following the implementation of public health measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. Around the world, UCW is largely the responsibility of women, including in Latin America, where there is a strong cultural value placed on caregiving roles. This paper undertakes a comparative analysis of the social protection measures introduced in Colombia and Costa Rica during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing on core themes of feminist political economy and Elson’s (New Labor Forum, 26(2), 52–61, 2017) Three R Framework to reflect on whether and how measures incorporated care-sensitive approaches and on the factors shaping the countries’ diverging responses. Of the two jurisdictions compared in this paper, Costa Rica’s social protection measures afforded greater visibility and support for UCW. We offer a discussion of potential factors contributing to Costa Rica’s care-sensitive approach, including a robust pre-pandemic social protection infrastructure, better integration of the informal economy into social protection measures, and greater representation of women in politics. Insights from this analysis can inform enhancements of social protection systems in Colombia, Costa Rica, and other comparable jurisdictions across Latin America, while also contributing to pandemic preparedness and more gender-responsive approaches to future global health crises.