Redistributing Unpaid Care Work – Why Tax Matters for Women’s Rights

This policy briefing by the Institute of Development Studies and the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR), Redistributing Unpaid Care  Work – Why Tax Matters for  Women’s Rights, outlines why it is so important to consider women’s human rights and unpaid care work when designing tax policies and offers concrete suggestions for care-responsive reforms and policies. Around the world the great majority of unpaid care work – such as cooking, cleaning, collecting water and fuel, and caring for children and the elderly – is done by women. This unjust distribution of labor, which has profound impacts on women’s human rights, is both a cause and a consequence of gender inequality and discriminatory social norms. The authors argue that this task is particularly pressing in the light of efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which include a commitment for states to take on greater responsibility for unpaid care work. A progressive, human rights-aligned and care-responsive taxation system is vital to achieve these objectives.  

Read the full briefing here.