Region

According to the APEC 2023 Women and the Economy Panel, access to markets must be effectively supported by access to care services, particularly affordable services for children, older persons, and people with disabilities, in order to redistribute unpaid care work so that women can dedicate more time to the formal economy according to their preferred levels of participation (APEC, 2023, p.vii). Data available from 10 APEC member economies reveal that, although childcare costs have declined by around 10% from a peak of 33–44% of net household income in 2004, they still averaged nearly 20% in 2019 (APEC, 2023, p.vii).

In data presented in the APEC 2022 PSU Policy Brief No. 43, “Unpaid Care and Domestic Work: Counting the Costs,” women in APEC member economies spend an average of 4 hours and 20 minutes per day performing unpaid domestic and care tasks, almost three times the amount of time spent by men (APEC, 2022, p.43).

Likewise, five economies in Asia and the Pacific reported that 187 million hours are devoted daily to unpaid activities, of which 60% are performed by women. In this regard, for women in caregiving roles, particularly those providing care for people with disabilities, one of the main challenges is the lack of availability, quality, professionalization (training), and accessibility of care and personal assistance services.

In addition, according to the ILO’s Care Work and Care Workers Report 2019, 41.6% of women living in middle-income economies are outside the labor force mainly due to their involvement in unpaid caregiving roles (ILO, 2019, p.6). The same report also notes that unpaid caregivers tend to face poorer working conditions; for instance, unpaid caregivers are more likely to be employed in the informal economy (62%) than their non-caregiving counterparts (56.8%) (ILO, 2019, p.34). The value of unpaid domestic and care work represents up to 9% of global GDP (USD 11 trillion). Of this, women’s unpaid work accounts for approximately 6.6% of GDP, while men’s unpaid work represents 2.4% (ILO, 2019).

Following the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2024, the Global Future Council on the Future of the Care Economy explores opportunities for an effective care economy, elevating the visibility of care as an economic and investment priority for leaders worldwide (2024, p.4). Thus, the global demand for care services is increasing across all APEC member economies, as is the demand for caregivers.

Consequently, the importance of skills and occupations in care work is also growing, along with the scope of investment in the care economy (World Economic Forum, 2024, p.48).

To address this issue, APEC member economies have implemented good practices and policies such as: i) studies on unpaid work; ii) recognizing and valuing unpaid work through time-use surveys; and iii) reducing unpaid work through investments in social services, among others (APEC, 2022, p.8).

The Ministerial Declaration of the APEC Women and the Economy Forum (WEF) 2024 prioritizes the elimination of structural barriers that limit women’s participation in economies and hinder gender equality, such as the unequal distribution of paid and unpaid domestic and care work (APEC, 2024).

The collection of research data and seminar discussions will provide an opportunity to address the current challenge of women’s economic participation in APEC member economies through inclusive care systems for people with disabilities. In response to these challenges, the project seeks to address them through research on the impact of care services for people with disabilities on the economic empowerment of women caregivers, structured around five lines of inquiry: i) identification and characterization of the supply and demand for care and personal assistance services;

ii) models of care and personal assistance services; iii) impact of care and personal assistance services on women’s economic participation; iv) comparative analysis of care and personal assistance service policies and strategies; and v) gaps and barriers in access to care and personal assistance services.

Based on the findings, a research paper will be developed to facilitate discussions during the seminar and contribute to the formulation of good practices for APEC member economies. These good practices are expected to foster environments that promote women’s economic participation by generating evidence on the impact of care services for people with disabilities on caregivers’ participation in the economy.

Cross-cuttingly, the APEC Women and the Economy Forum (WEF) 2025 recognizes the importance of ensuring that care work is valued and that caregiving becomes a benchmark for the full enjoyment of decent work amid demographic changes (APEC, 2025).

Eligibility and Fund Priorities

The project aligns with the eligibility criteria of the Women and the Economy Sub- Fund, which aims to institutionalize and provide ongoing support to advance APEC’s objectives of increasing women’s economic participation. In this case, it focuses on two pillars of the Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy (PPWE): i) Skills, capacity building, and health; and ii) Women’s leadership and agency.

In addition, the project is consistent with the Sub-Fund’s criteria for capacity-building activities that benefit APEC member economies. The Sub-Fund supports new and ongoing initiatives to enhance women’s economic participation, an objective that this project addresses by strengthening the labor and economic participation of women engaged in both paid and unpaid caregiving roles for people with disabilities, through improved access to care and personal assistance services.

The project is supported by evidence-based documents such as “The APEC Women and the Economy Dashboard 2023,” “APEC Policy Support Unit: Policy Brief No. 43,” and the ILO report “Care Work and Care Jobs,” among others. This ensures that project implementation is grounded in reliable and representative data.

Finally, the project supports the PPWE priority of advancing women’s economic participation within APEC through inclusive care systems for people with disabilities, ensuring that care is valued and that care and personal assistance work become a benchmark for women across APEC to fully enjoy decent and dignified work.

Capacity Building

The project contributes to capacity building in APEC member economies through the generation of evidence on care and personal assistance services for people with disabilities and their link to the economic empowerment of women caregivers.

Through research on the impact of care and personal assistance services for people with disabilities on the economic empowerment of women caregivers, the project aims to generate evidence in the following areas: i) identification and characterization of the supply and demand for care and personal assistance services; ii) models of care and personal assistance services; iii) impact of care and personal assistance services on women’s economic participation; iv) comparative analysis of care and personal assistance service policies and strategies; and v) gaps and barriers in access to care and personal assistance services.

The outcome of this research for APEC member economies will be the generation of evidence on care and personal assistance services, the identification and dissemination of good practices that promote the redistribution of unpaid care work in the context of disability, and the creation of opportunities enabling women to devote more time to the formal economy, supporting their continued participation and professional development. This outcome aligns with APEC’s broader goals of fostering sustainable growth, promoting inclusive development, and reducing economic disparities.

It is worth highlighting that there is currently a lack of evidence-based information on care and personal assistance services in the field of disability, making this project essential for informing public policy and actions that benefit women in APEC member economies. The findings and recommendations will be published in an open-access study that will serve as a comparative and reference tool for policymakers, facilitating the design of future initiatives in care, personal assistance, independent living, and community life.