Time to Care: Unpaid and underpaid care work and the global inequality crisis

In 2019, the world’s 2,153 billionaires had more wealth than 4.6 billion people. The richest 22 men in the world owned more wealth than all the women in Africa. Oxfam International’s report, Time to Care: Unpaid and underpaid care work and the global inequality crisis, published on January 20, 2020, discusses these extremes of wealth inequality.The report states that such inequality is based on a “…flawed and sexist economic system that values the wealth of the privileged few, mostly men, more than the billions of hours of the most essential work – the unpaid and underpaid care work done primarily by women and girls around the world.” Care work includes looking after children, elderly people and those with physical and mental illnesses or disabilities, as well as domestic work such as cooking, cleaning, washing, mending and fetching water and firewood.This four-part report covers wealth inequality and the exploitation of women and girls (chapter 1); care workers and the value of care (chapter 2); the ‘spiralling inequality and care crisis’ (chapter 3); and solutions to tackle these crises for a ‘future that cares for all’ (chapter 4).