An estimated 708 million women worldwide are outside the labour force because of unpaid care responsibilities, according to new ILO global estimates, released on Tuesday, on the occasion of the International Day of Care and Support.
In 2023, 748 million people (aged 15 or older) were not participating in the global labour force because of care responsibilities, accounting for a third of all working-age persons outside of the labour force. Of these, 708 million were women and 40 million were men.
The new estimates, presented in the ILO Statistical Brief The Impact of Care Responsibilities on Women’s Labour Force Participation, are derived from data from 125 countries. They indicate that care responsibilities present the main barrier to women entering and staying in the labour force, while men are more likely to cite other personal reasons for being outside the labour force, such as education and health issues.
This stark gender discrepancy highlights the disproportionate role that women take on in child-rearing, care, and support for persons with disabilities and those in need of long-term care, housekeeping, and other care responsibilities.
Globally, around 1.6 billion women and 800 million men are outside the labour force, with 45 percent of these women and 5 percent of these men citing care responsibilities as the reason for their non-participation. Among women aged 25 to 54, the proportion citing care as the reason for being outside the workforce rises to two-thirds (379 million women). Women with lower education and those in rural areas also face higher barriers to workforce participation due to care responsibilities.
“Women shoulder a disproportionate share of care responsibilities, preventing their participation in the labour force due to factors such as low education levels, limited job opportunities, poor infrastructure, rural residence, and inadequate care and support systems. Additionally, societal expectations and norms around caregiving further restrict women’s labour market inclusion, and deepen gender inequalities,” said Sukti Dasgupta, Director of the Conditions of Work and Equality Department.
Regionally, the highest percentage of women outside the labour force citing care responsibilities as the reason is in Northern Africa (63 percent of women outside the labour force), followed by the Arab States (59 percent). In Asia and the Pacific, the figure is 52 percent with little variation in the subregions. In the Americas, the variation is stark, with 47 percent citing care as the main reason for being outside the labour force in Latin America and the Caribbean, compared to just 19 percent in Northern America. In Europe and Central Asia, 21 percent of women report caregiving as the main barrier, with Eastern Europe having the lowest rate globally (11 percent).
“These new ILO data expose important inequalities in the world of work due to unequal care responsibilities and highlight the power of data to improve our understanding of the care economy. The ILO has made decent work in the care economy a top priority and is working towards new statistical standards to improve care work data,” explained Rafael Diez de Medina, Chief Statistician and Director of the Department of Statistics.
READ ALSO: JUST IN: Tinubu directs release of minors arraigned for #EndBadGovernance protests
