29/10/2026
This year, the Human Rights Council recognized that inequalities in care and support systems are both a cause and a consequence of discrimination against women and girls.
Women and girls spend 2.5 times as many hours as men on unpaid care work, limiting their opportunities to earn a living and achieve economic independence.
Women also make up the majority of paid domestic workers, many facing low wages, precarious working conditions and discrimination. Migrant women and women from marginalized racial or ethnic communities predominate care and support workforce and in most precarious conditions.
Women and girls with disabilities, as well as older women, may themselves be carers and care and support workers while facing barriers to accessing the support they need to live independently and participate fully in society.
These inequalities reflect how care responsibilities are distributed and who has access to the support they need. Advancing equality requires addressing how care and support responsibilities are shared, ensuring decent working conditions for care and support workers, and protecting the rights and autonomy of people who need care and support.
On , we call for care and support policies that advance equality, with decent working conditions and stronger protection for everyone in care and support systems: https://live.ilo.org/event/building-sustainable-care-and-support-systems-through-decent-work-2026-10-29
Explore the human rights dimensions of care and support: https://www.ohchr.org/en/care-and-support.
Read the stories of three young carers in Ireland and how caring for family members has affected their lives: https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2026/10/caring-shadows-young-carers-demand-be-heard