Matthew Miller, Department Spokesperson

On the second annual International Day of Care and Support, the United States recognizes the foundational role of care infrastructure in the global economy and honors the vital role that care workers play in our global society.

According to the World Economic Forum, unpaid care work amounts to $11 trillion, or nearly nine percent of global GDP.  At home, women perform more than three times the total hours of unpaid care work performed by men, fueling the discriminatory expectation that mothers and daughters should shoulder this burden and sacrifice their economic futures.  According to the International Labor Organization, 81 percent of domestic workers worldwide—76.2 percent of whom are women– are informally employed, meaning their work is largely unregulated, underpaid, and underappreciated.

In January 2023, Secretary Blinken launched the first-ever U.S. Strategy on Global Women’s Economic Security, which identifies advancing care infrastructure and valuing care work as key efforts to support women’s full, equal, and meaningful economic participation and leadership.  In November 2023, Secretary Blinken announced the Department’s commitment to implementing the Presidential Memorandum for Advancing Worker Empowerment Rights and High Labor Standards Globally to promote inclusive labor markets and the rights of all workers – whether from formal or informal sectors – no matter what gender, race, or background.

We are proud to collaborate with governments, the private sector, workers, labor unions, and civil society to advance the care economy, including striving toward the G7 Leaders’ commitment of supporting 200 million more women to join the workforce by 2035 through investments in closing the global gap in the availability of childcare.