In order for unpaid care work to be recognized as a viable employment option in Mexico, where women spend twice as much time as men on these tasks, UN Women presented this Tuesday the Care Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program.
The initiative, in alliance with the Tecnológico de Monterrey and private companies, seeks to promote – in a pilot program – ten care ventures led by women, through training and support to strengthen technical, strategic and leadership skills.
Monica Pizani Orsini, representative of UN Women in Mexico, pointed out that Mexican women dedicate 21.5 hours a week more than men to care work, which “tends to be invisible and little recognized.”
According to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi), women spend 39.7 hours per week on unpaid care work, when men allocate 18.2 hours.
Pizani also highlighted that this unpaid work “has an enormous economic value equivalent to 26.3% of GDP, surpassing the manufacturing industry and commerce,” according to Inegi data.
On the other hand, the official pointed out that when this work is paid it is usually precarious, informal and without access to social security and labor rights.
Find out: IDB will support Mexico to implement national care policy
In this context, Pizani highlighted the need to recognize care as a pillar of development and a “catalyst for innovation, professionalization and the generation of decent employment.”
“We propose an innovative alternative to the challenges we face to generate decent jobs and sustainable livelihoods that, in turn, recognize, reduce and redistribute unpaid domestic and care work,” said the representative of UN Women during the presentation of the program in the Mexican capital.
The call will be open until October 31 and the selected projects will be announced on December 15.
Fernanda García, from the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO), highlighted during a dialogue table that the economic value of care in Mexico amounts to 8.4 trillion pesos (about 450,000 million dollars), equivalent to 26% of the national GDP.
“That is, one in every four pesos of the country’s economy,” García emphasized.
In addition, the IMCO representative pointed out that 99 million people provide care to other households and 94% do so without receiving remuneration in return.
Regarding care establishments in Mexico, García pointed out that “there is a long way to go,” since there are around 95,000 establishments – the majority of which are public provision – and 91% are dedicated to serving the child population, mainly in schools.
For her part, Andrea Castillo, from the company Lactando – dedicated to creating breastfeeding cabins in public spaces – highlighted the importance of changing the paradigm “that it is wrong to charge for something that does good for society.”
“Taking care of ourselves and resting is an act of rebellion as a woman,” added Leylani Hernández, an activist with the Miau collective, which provides economic and socio-emotional training to women on the outskirts of the Mexican capital.
With information from EFE.
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