Read the Joint Statement by ITUC, UNI Global Union, PSI, Education International, IDWF and WIEGO

 

Care & Informal Economy Workers

COVID-19 has laid bare the devastating effects of decades of under-investment in public health and care systems. WIEGO is joining the Global Day of Action for Care on 29 October 2020, calling on governments to invest in public health and care service as part of economic recovery plans to ensure job creation, fair wages, decent working conditions, and to close gender gaps in labour-force participation.

All workers have the right to quality public health and care services, and universal social protection. Yet for the working poor in the informal economy, health and care services – such as child care and care for the elderly – are inaccessible or unavailable. The pandemic has exposed how so few women and men workers in the informal economy are covered by any social protection schemes.

Learn more about WIEGO’s work with care workers banner
Lucy Mokheles' workday in a private home involves cleaning and cooking for her employer, Rose Hamilton, and other family members. (Photo: Jonathan Torgovnik/Getty Images)

Many informal workers are also care workers themselves. Domestic workers – most of whom are women – provide care to their employers' households every day. They have the right to decent pay and working conditions, including equal pay for work of equal value, training opportunities, occupational health and safety and a workplace free of violence. Care workers are essential workers and make enormous contributions to our societies.

As the world undergoes an unprecedented economic recession, investing in quality health and care services, universal social protection, and protecting the rights of care workers can prevent women and men in the informal economy from slipping even deeper into poverty.

Join WIEGO, International Domestic Workers Federation and trade unions on this Global Day of Action in demanding investments in care from governments.

Visit IDWF's campaign page, Invest in Care: Decent Work for Domestic Workers

Visit ITUC's campaign page, Invest in Care, Now!

 

Events

webinarWEBINAR: Invest in Care, Now! Voices from Asia Pacific, October 28, 2020
WEBINAR: Invest in Care, Now!, October 29, 2020
WEBINAR: #CareforThoseWhoCareforYou: United for Domestic Workers’ Rights, October 28, 2020