Public care policies for a post-pandemic economic recovery with less gender and racial inequality in Brazil: relevance and proposals

ABSTRACT Economic crises can lead to changes in the time allocated to paid/unpaid work by women/men. In Brazil, during the pandemic crisis, women lost employment at a greater rate than men, facing greater difficulties in returning to the labor market because of care work. Public policies play a fundamental role in offering and improving public care services, prioritizing lower-income regions and families. Unfortunately, the analysis of the impacts of the pandemic on gender inequality in Brazil was hampered by the lack of information. To fill in the lack of data, a survey was developed that was carried out using online questionnaires and direct telephone interviews, to analyze data on the impacts of the pandemic on unpaid care work in Brazil. The responses show that families had an increase in care work, and that women were primarily responsible for this extra work, confirming the reduction of women's participation in the labor market. Based on the diagnosis from the survey, as well as data available from the labor market for the period, it was possible to identify some main public policy guidelines that would be fundamental for the reduction of gender and racial inequality in Brazil.