Unpaid Caregiving in Latin America and the Caribbean: Key Numbers and Trends

We estimate and analyze unpaid care for children, persons with disabilities, and older people in Latin America and the Caribbean using information from ten time-use surveys and imputation and extrapolation methods for countries where no data are available. We estimate that 161 million people devote 2.3 billion hours per week to providing unpaid support with basic or instrumental activities of daily living. The economic value of this work represents between 5 percent and 8 percent of the regions GDP. Women represent 62 percent of caregivers and account for 76 percent of the total hours devoted to care. On average, they spend almost twice as many hours as men on unpaid care17 hours per week. Women are also more likely to perform the most demanding tasks. Childcare currently accounts for 86 percent of the total hours of unpaid care. However, demographic trends will significantly reshape care needs. If current care arrangements persist, by 2050 the number of unpaid caregivers for children will decline by 34 million, while the number of caregivers for adults with disabilities will increase by 14 million and the number of caregivers for older people by 27 million. Our findings highlight the magnitude of the demand for different types of care services in the region, disaggregated by target population. They also underscore the need to consider demographic trends when planning the future composition of policies and programs that support unpaid caregiving within the context of the regions care systems.