GTI starts work on the elaboration of the National Care Policy

The interministerial group (GTI) will have the mission of “formulating a diagnosis on the social organization of care in Brazil, identifying existing policies, programs and services”.

The launch ceremony will be attended by the Minister of Women, Cida Gonçalves, and the Minister of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger (MDS), Wellington Dias.

“Our goal is to involve all spheres of government in this dialogue and also listen to civil society. It is necessary to raise awareness about the importance of building a National Care Policy, in which care is a responsibility of the State, society and the family, and not just a responsibility of women”, said the National Secretary of Economic Autonomy and Care Policy of the Ministry of Women, Rosane Silva, referring to the meeting to be started today (22).

In a note, the group’s coordinators explain that “the high load of unpaid domestic work and care, exercised mostly by women within households, generates pressure on family income, unequal access to quality services and barriers to access to education and work, compromising women’s economic autonomy and reproducing poverty and inequality”.

Work load

Also according to the note, women dedicate to unpaid care work inside their own homes an average of 22 hours a week (twice the time of men). “This amount of hours is much higher in the poorest families and among black women compared to white women”, she adds.

In addition, for 30% of women who are not employed, the main reason for not looking for a job “are their responsibilities with children, other relatives or household chores (in the case of men this figure is 2%). This percentage is much higher among women who have children, especially between four and five years (54%) and zero to three years (61.8%)”.

The GTI is made up of representatives from 20 government institutions: Civil House, Ministries of Education, Health, Labor and Employment, Human Rights and Citizenship, Racial Equality, Indigenous Peoples, Management and Innovation in Public Services, of Agrarian Development and Family Agriculture, Social Security, Cities, Development, Industry, Commerce and Services, Planning and Budget, General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic and Attorney General of the Union.

The activities of the working group will last for 180 days and may be extended once for the same period.