Care labor, intergenerational equity, and (social) sustainability

Abstract

Of the three sustainability (social, environmental and economic) pillars, the social one is the least developed. The 2020/2021 COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted why assuring social sustainability requires examining the central role care labor plays in intergenerational sustainability, with attention to the potentially conflicting rights of caregivers and care receivers, as well as to gender, geographic, age, class and other inequalities. A system that focuses on recognition, reduction, redistribution, reinforcement and reward (5 Rs) is needed to further gender equality and assure that care labor receives adequate policy support. Recognition or naming the problem, efforts to reduce drudgery, redistribution of care within the family and beyond, as well as two forms of support to care givers – reinforcement and reward make up the 5 Rs. Focusing on 5Rs can also help prioritize when social, environmental and economic goals conflict.