A guide to public investments in the care economy

This policy support tool is prepared in the framework of the UN Women and ILO Joint Programme titled “Promoting Decent Employment for Women through Inclusive Growth Policies and Investments in the Care Economy” and as part of the UN-wide response initiatives to be included in the UN Socio-Economic Response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Within this framework, the tool aims to provide a methodology for how to:

• identify the coverage gaps in care services (namely public healthcare, long-term care, early childhood care & education, and primary and secondary education);
• estimate the costs of public investments and expenditures for eliminating these coverage gaps; and
• assess the various economic returns to such investments in the short- and the long-run.