The Global Care Policy Index (GCPI) measures how well countries enact policies that support and protect family caregivers and domestic careworkers who do the important but often invisible work of caring for the young, old, disabled, and infirm within the home.
The GCPI offers a numerical assessment of a country’s policies across two domains, each with their own sub-index: Unpaid caregiving by family members (Sub-Index A) and paid carework by domestic workers (Sub-Index B). Altogether, the GCPI consists of 12 categories of carework protections and 107 questions. To date, more than 30 countries and territories have been scored as part of the GCPI project.
Through this work, it aims to incentivize countries to recognize the critical role that caregiving and carework plays in supporting the smooth functioning of society. This goal is in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (particular Goals 5 and 8 on Gender Equality and Decent Work) and the International Labor Organization’s Decent Work Agenda.
Carework Denigrated
The centrality of carework in the smooth functioning of society is undisputed. And yet carework continues to be denigrated as low-status, is often lowly paid (if paid at all), makes up a significant part of the informal sector in many developing countries, and is frequently outsourced to marginalized groups (women, working-class individuals, temporary migrant workers, etc.). Many scholars and activists have attempted to bring the importance of carework to the attention of policymakers, but there continues to be insufficient recognition of and inadequate regulatory protections for this form of work.
Caregiving and Carework
When it comes to the work of caring for the young, old, disabled and infirm within a home, unpaid caregiving by family members and paid carework by domestic workers are twin sides of the same coin. This is why the GCPI is comprised of two sub-indices, one assessing a country’s policy protections for unpaid family caregivers, and the second assessing a country’s policies protecting paid domestic workers, including informal workers, migrant workers, part-time, and live-in workers. We believe that a country should be judged on how well it protects both groups of care providers to ensure that the GCPI provides a holistic assessment of how well a country cares for its caregivers.