Conceptualising and measuring the social care economy

The concept of the care economy has garnered considerable international attention. Social justice arguments about decent work, the gendered nature of care work and the need to account for care, along with critiques of gross domestic product as an adequate metric for the wellbeing of nations, have all informed a call to place care on national agendas. The language of ‘care crisis’ underscores the urgency of accounting for care and for determining the social contract between society and family in the responsibility for providing care to those who are most vulnerable. United Nations agencies have called for the development of systems of long-term care, noting that families should not be held responsible for care. In this article, we present a framework for the social care economy that aims to make care work visible. Care work remains undervalued in our societies and economies, and its workers often remain marginalised. We define the social care economy as that sector of the broader economy comprising paid and unpaid work provided to those needing assistance with daily functioning: young children, younger people with chronic conditions and disabilities, and older people with chronic conditions and disabilities. We specify data needs and identify gaps in determining the balance of state versus family responsibility for care and in documenting and making visible the work of paid and unpaid carers. We conclude with a discussion of how the framework might lead to insights into the wellbeing of carers and of the nations in which their care work is embedded.