INTHEBLACK February / March 2026 - Magazine - Page 21
the burden of paid and unpaid care work,
a reflection of deep-seated gender inequality
in the division of labour.
Recognising care as a critical economic
sector and investing in gender-responsive
care policies could act as a powerful lever
for economic growth and gender equality.
For example, the ILO estimates that every
US$1 invested in closing childcare policy
gaps could generate US$3.76 in global
GDP by 2035.
Integrating care value into public
investment projects could be a powerful
job creation strategy with a strong gender
dimension, according to Bharathi, who
cites ILO research that indicates that such
investments could create up to 299 million
jobs by 2035. Crucially, nearly 80 per cent
of these new positions (about 239 million)
would be held by women, directly addressing
their economic exclusion and boosting their
participation in the formal labour market.
Iromi Perera, an economic justice advocate
and director of the Centre for a Smart Future
in Sri Lanka, says care work remains “one of
the key reasons women are unable to earn
a dignified income”. She points to research
showing that more than 700 million women
globally remain out of the labour force due
to unpaid care responsibilities, compared
with about 40 million men.
“Investing in the care economy not only
enables better (female) participation in
the workforce, but it also allows caregivers
to reduce time poverty and enjoy their right
to rest and leisure,” Perera says.
Sri Lanka’s “polycrisis”, a phenomenon
whereby multiple crises combine to make
a scenario worse, has resulted in many
households struggling to make ends meet.
“For caregivers, this means that their time
poverty and care load have not reduced,”
she says, “even as they take on additional
income-generating activities.”
Perera believes governments and
communities should allocate greater budgets
to improve the “infrastructures of care”,
including day-care centres, after-school
programs for children and universal school
meals. “However, it is possible to provide
these infrastructures in deeply unequal
and meaningless ways. Therefore, proper
frameworks for quality of care, investment
in improving the quality of infrastructure,
as well as investment in those working
in the care economy, are a must.”
intheblack.cpaaustralia.com.au 21
