Unpaid labor like childcare and eldercare is not represented in economic models, although it makes up an important part of the economy. The pandemic has exposed this shortcoming, and the task now for economists and policymakers is to devise ways to value this labor appropriately and support it adequately.
BUENOS AIRES/WASHINGTON, DC – The COVID-19 pandemic may have slowed the global economy in 2020, but the “care economy” was working harder than ever. For too long, economists and policymakers have ignored this segment. Economic models account for the goods and services sold in the market and the workers who produce them, earn income, and pay taxes. But the labor that enables those workers to be fed, cared for as children, and supported when sick is nearly invisible in official data.
BUENOS AIRES/WASHINGTON, DC – The COVID-19 pandemic may have slowed the global economy in 2020, but the “care economy” was working harder than ever. For too long, economists and policymakers have ignored this segment. Economic models account for the goods and services sold in the market and the workers who produce them, earn income, and pay taxes. But the labor that enables those workers to be fed, cared for as children, and supported when sick is nearly invisible in official data.