A guide to public investments in the Care Economy: Estimating care deficits, investment costs and economic returns

This publication was created as part of the UN Women–ILO joint programme, “Promoting decent employment for women through inclusive growth policies and investments in the care economy”. It presents the key findings and lessons learned from applying the UN Women–ILO policy tool, “A guide to public investments in the care economy: Policy support tool for estimating care deficits, investment costs, and economic returns”, in Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Morocco, and Nepal.

The tool provides a methodology to:

• Identify coverage gaps in care services (including public healthcare, long-term care, early childhood care and education, and primary and secondary education);
• Estimate the costs of public investments and expenditures needed to eliminate these gaps; and
• Assess the various social, employment, and fiscal returns of such investments in the short and long term.

The successful application of the tool in five different contexts demonstrates its adaptability and underscores the importance of developing global policy tools and guidance to extend UN Women’s work beyond the geographical boundaries of its implemented programs.