Mapping Care through Co-operatives

The ILO Gender, Equality and Diversity Branch (GED) and Co-operatives Unit (COOP) have launched an initiative to explore how co-operatives provide care services in different countries. The Mapping...

The ILO Gender, Equality and Diversity Branch (GED) and Co-operatives Unit (COOP) have launched an initiative to explore how co-operatives provide care services in different countries.

The Mapping Care through Co-operatives project aims to gain better understanding of the types and level of care that co-operatives provide, and help identify the resources co-op organisations need to be viable employers and providers of care.

As part of the project, GED and COOP are gathering information through an open online survey on co-operative care provision.

“Human care needs are expanding and becoming ever more complex, from child care and elderly care, to long term caregiving to people with disabilities and chronic illnesses like HIV and AIDS,” said Simel Esim, ILO COOP programme manager.

“With the expansion of care needs, the care economy has enormous potential for employment generation in the coming years – especially for women, as well as other groups often excluded from the labour market.”

However, while co-operatives appear to be well-positioned to serve as vehicles that generate access to the labour market, and be responsive providers of care services, Ms Esim adds that “much about care through co-operatives remains to be understood”.

In this context, the survey explores how co-operative provision of care has changed over the last ten years, for example in terms of the number of co-ops providing care, community demand and government support. It also looks at legislation, funding, employment practices and the the wider issues shaping future care needs.

“The results of this survey research will be made publicly available. However, all individual respondents will remain anonymous,” said Ms Esim. “We will also be doing some interviews and hope to share the results during the Cooperatives and the World of Work Research Conference in Antalya in November.”

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