Worldwide, in 2023, 2.4 billion people aged 15 and above were not participating in the labour force, among whom around 1.6 billion (66 per cent) women and 800 million men are outside the labour force, with 45 per cent of these women and 5 per cent of these men, citing care responsibilities as the reason for their non-participation.

The ILO Statistical brief titled “The impact of care responsibilities on women’s labour force participation” released on the occasion of the International Day of Care and Support has estimated 748 million working age persons were not participating in the global labour force because of care responsibilities, of these 708 million were women and 40 million were men.

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. The share of women outside the labour force due to care responsibilities is 45 percent globally, with the highest shares in Northern Africa (63 per cent) and the Arab States (59 per cent).

The data derived from 125 countries indicate that care responsibilities present chief barrier to women entering and staying in labour force, while men (58 per cent) are more likely to cite other personal reasons for being outside the labour force, such as education and health issues.

In fact, according to data from 108countries, 60 per cent of men citing personal reasons were in education, compared to only 22 per cent of women. This suggests that other personal reasons beyond education may be limiting women’s participation in the workforce, such as cultural norms and societal expectations that discourage women from being in the labour market. Notably, the personal reasons category includes those whose partners do not want them to engage in paid work, as well as other involuntary reasons.

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.

In 2023, women’s global labour force participation rate stood at 48.7 per cent, significantly lower than the rate of 73.0 per cent for men—a gap of more than 24 percentage points. This disparity varies across regions. In some high-income European countries, the gap tends to be smaller with women’s participation exceeding 70 percent, while men’s rates are only slightly higher. However, in some parts of the world, such as the Arab States, Northern Africa, and Southern Asia, the gender gap widens dramatically, ranging from 46 to 54 percentage points.

The gender gap in labour force participation in many parts of the world is often linked to societal expectations, gender norms and gender stereotypes around caregiving and work, where women are still considered the main “caregivers”, and men “breadwinners”. As such, women are often expected to prioritize family over employment. Data clearly shows that the presence of children, especially young children (under the age of 6), significantly decreases women’s likelihood of being in the workforce.

For women with young children living in couples or extended families, labour force participation is12 to 14 percentage points lower than among those without young children. Meanwhile, men’s participation is largely unaffected by the presence of young children and may even increase. The net result is stark gender gaps inparticipation—38 percentage points for couples and 36percentage points for extended families with young children, compared to a 23-percentage point gap for those without children.

This unequal distribution of unpaid care work between women and men hinders women’s economic inclusion and effective labour market participation and widens gender gaps in the world of work, says the ILO brief.

ILO data show that since 2018 many countries have made progress in promoting the participation of women careers by increasing investments in early childhood care and education. However, in a world being reshaped by demographic shifts, with ageing populations, and climate change, which intensifies unpaid care work, the demand for care services is likely to increase.

Therefore, ILO calls for urgent action to ensure decent work in the care economy and to promote decent work by ensuring access to care for all, by giving effect to the ILO Resolution adopted by governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations at the International Labour Conference in June 2024. (IPA Service)