ILO Resolution on Decent Work and the Care Economy

The International Labour Conference adopted its Resolution concerning decent work and the care economy on 14 June 2024. The document places childcare, health, social services, domestic work and unpaid care within the same discussion. It also notes the lack of an internationally agreed statistical definition of care work. Whether indirect care is counted changes what can be measured and funded.

Five principles for two forms of work

The five-R framework calls for recognition, reduction and redistribution of unpaid care, and reward and representation for paid care workers. Public provision can release time for families. When expansion relies on low pay and workers without adequate rest or bargaining power, it shifts the cost to another group of carers.

The resolution relates service quality to retention, social protection and access. Decisions about contracting, pay and user fees determine how those goals meet in practice. A programme can be assessed by what it does both for workers’ conditions and for the choices available to people who need support.

What workers can bring to the bargaining table

The resolution treats public financing and social dialogue as part of the same policy. A home-care worker may know that the schedule leaves too little time to travel between clients. The result of a tight schedule can be a shorter visit or unpaid time on the road. Representation gives workers a way to make those trade-offs visible when the service is planned and when conditions are negotiated.

The resolution also brings care into employment, migration and social protection policy. A temporary visa may make it hard to change employers. A move between contractors may interrupt coverage. Service prices and the number of places reveal little about who bears either risk. One way to read the five Rs is to ask which party can make each decision: the family choosing a service, the employee challenging a schedule, or the agency setting the price and conditions of a contract. Their authority matters to whether the redistribution of care can last.

Read No Care Economies Without Domestic Workers for a worker-organizing perspective on representation. The resolution sets directions for policy. Actual wages, contracts and service outcomes depend on implementation.

Original text