Care and Support Day: unpaid family care keeps 708 million women out

The world marks the International Day of Care and Support on Thursday, October 29, 2026, a United Nations observance that draws attention to the paid and unpaid work of looking after children, older people and the sick, most of which is done by women within families. The International Labour Organization (ILO) is holding a commemoration in Geneva on the day, focused on how investment in rights-based care systems can improve conditions for care workers, according to the UN's observance page. The day comes as ILO estimates show that 708 million women worldwide are outside the labour force because of unpaid care responsibilities.

Every family runs on care: feeding and bathing a baby, helping a child with homework, taking an elderly parent to the doctor, sitting up with someone who is ill. Because this work happens at home and is unpaid, it rarely appears in economic numbers, and it is easy to treat it as something that simply gets done. The International Day of Care and Support exists to make it visible, and to ask who does it, at what cost, and with what help.

The ILO's numbers answer the first question clearly. Women are far more likely than men to stay out of paid work because someone at home needs looking after. Care responsibilities are the main reason women give for not being in the labour force, while men outside the labour force more often cite education or health. That gap shapes family life: it affects household income, women's savings and pensions, and how much say they have in family decisions.

For families, the day is also a prompt to see care as a shared job rather than one person's duty. UN Women's material for the day carries the message that care work "keeps the world running". The ILO's own focus this year, on investing in care systems, points to what can lighten the load at home: creches, elder-care services and leave policies that let both partners share care, so that women are less often forced to choose between family and paid work.

For Indian readers the question is practical. Joint and nuclear families alike look after young children and ageing parents at home, and the ILO's global finding that this work falls mostly on women is a useful lens for family decisions. How India builds childcare, elder care and leave policies will shape how that load is shared.

Short-term: Governments, unions and international bodies will use October 29 to publish data and hold events, including the ILO's Geneva commemoration, keeping care work in public debate.

Long-term: Countries that invest in childcare, elder care and fair pay for care workers can bring more women into paid work and ease the pressure on families. Where care stays unpaid and unshared, the gap between women's and men's work and income is likely to persist.

Who is affected: Mothers and other women who care for children and elders at home; paid care workers such as nurses, nannies and home attendants; working couples sharing family duties; and older people and children who depend on care.

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