CARE INCOME NOW

A care income for all caring work for people and planet

Caring for others is the foundation of every society. Yet this work, done mostly by women, in the home, on the land and in the community, is devalued, unwaged or low waged, leading to poverty, dependence and endless work. The pandemic and above all the climate emergency have forced us to recognise that caring for and protecting people and the natural world must become the universal priority.

Regenerating the land, the air and the seas is essential to stopping and reversing ecological destruction and climate change. But those in charge of the world, their corporations and their weapons, are hijacking our present and our future in their insane pursuit of profit and power. They are endangering our very survival, starting with those of us in the Global South and in Indigenous and working-class communities, often immigrant and/or of colour, everywhere.

Enough wealth has been accumulated to pay for the reproduction of life rather than subsidise the endless growth of destructive and polluting industries.

As part of a dynamic change of direction we demand a guaranteed income for all – of all genders and identities, beginning with mothers, Indigenous peoples and natural farmers – who do the work of:

  • caring for people of every age and condition;
  • protecting and regenerating the land and the water from poisonous chemicals which ruin the soil, the health of those who work it, the nutritional value of the food, and the climate;
  • defending human rights and the natural world, risking their lives;
  • surviving and resisting the climate change we did not cause which, following centuries of imperialist plunder, is endangering lives and livelihoods in the Global South, forcing millions to leave their home and all they hold dear.

Some key facts:

  • Women and girls do more than three-quarters of all unpaid care work – a total of 12.5 billion hours a day. The market values unwaged work at $10.8 trillion but never suggests that those who do it should get any of it.Unpaid family carers (overwhelming women but also children) save governments billions (£193 billion per year in the UK alone).
  • Women are the pillars of subsistence farming and agroecology. Women produce most of the food consumed locally, making small farms central to poverty reduction, gender equality and women’s empowerment. Small farms are more productive per acre than large farms and better for ecosystem and biodiversity conservation. (Inclusion Pays: The Returns on Investing in Women in Agriculture, 2022)
  • To incentivize restoration, governments need to step in to help pay people for the services provided by their land. When restoration doesn’t pay, it doesn’t happen. (Repurposing Agricultural Subsidies to Restore Degraded Farmland and Grow Rural Prosperity,2021)
  • In Andhra Pradesh, India, a non-profit organization, Rythu Sahikara Samstha, established by the state government, is implementing chemical free Community Managed Natural Farming, working in village clusters through women’s self-help groups. They intend for all six million farmers to implement CMNF by 2024. Chief adviser, Dr Vijay Kumar, urges that farmers transforming the land in this way should not be entirely dependent on the market – they should be entitled to an income for their work for all humanity.
  • Indigenous peoples who are less than 5% of the human population, support around 80% of the planet’s biodiversity.
  • At least 1,733 land and environmental defenders have been murdered over the last decade, the vast majority with impunity. Over 45 per cent of deadly attacks worldwide are linked to extractive industries.
  • Globally governments spend $1.8 trillion a year subsidising the most polluting industries—fossil fuels, agriculture, forestry, water, construction, transport, and marine capture fisheries. A much larger $5.9 trillion includeshidden subsidy of not paying for the deaths they cause and global warming.
  • Global agricultural subsidies amount to $540 billion a year (expected to climb to $1.8tr by 2030). 87% of these subsidies are harmful to people and the environment.
  • The US military, the world’s largest single polluter, creates 750,000 tons of toxic waste every year. 160 million people were killed in military conflict in the 20th century, more than 2m already in this century, the majority women, children and people of colour. Currently, between 38 and 60 million people are war refugees, half of whom are children while the arms industry is thriving.
Our Time is Now by Selma James is available to buy.

Our Time Is Now: Sex, Race, Class and Caring for People & Planet by Selma James

Selma James makes the powerful argument that the climate justice movement can draw on all the movements’ people have formed to refuse their particular exploitation, to destroy the capitalist hierarchy that is destroying the world. Our time is now.

Post Launch Flyer v2

What do Mothers and Caregivers want? Fill in the survey here...

There is an assumption that childcare or elder care is all women need. But, we are never asked what we think about how we spend our time and the resources we have / don't have. This survey is being circulated in different countries and languages. Click here to join the discussion or click on the button below.

What do Mothers and Caregivers want? The launch and webinar, March 2022. 

There is an assumption that childcare or elder care is all women need. But, we are never asked what we think about how we spend our time and the resources we have / don't have. This survey is being circulated in different countries and languages. Click here to join the discussion or click on the button below.

The Value of Caregiving

Women in Dialogue facilitate an international discussion : From Coronavirus to Beyond: VALUING CAREGIVING. The workshop we planned for the 64th UN Commission on the Status of Women has even more urgency now as the global pandemic has exposed how central caregiving is to life and survival, and how much caregivers are relied on for services governments are not providing. But where is the relief package for caregivers?

Care Income Now for People & Planet T-shirt and tote bag 

Sourced from No Sweat which fights exploitation in the garment industry.

Selma James speaks at Oxford Real Farming Conference: A Care Income to Protect the Land, the People and the Natural World

By Global Women's Strike | 4th January 2023

Speakers: Selma James, Swati Renduchintala, Pranom Somwong, Dee Woods, Jyoti Fernandez. As mothers, carers, farmers/farm workers, land and human rights’ defenders, women do most of the work of feeding (starting with breastfeeding) and protecting families and communities, the soil and the environment. For doing this fundamental caring work of society, unwaged and low-waged, we are…

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Care Income leaflet for 2023 Oxford Real Farming Conference

By Global Women's Strike | 3rd January 2023

Campaigning for an income for all who care for people, the soil and the natural world can: • Strengthen the movement against environmental destruction & global warming • Address poverty & other injustice suffered by those, overwhelmingly women, who do this work unwaged or low-waged • Redirect economic & social priorities internationally towards nourishing food (starting with breastfeeding), clean water & air, and the care & protection of all life • Encourage all genders & identities to commit to this lifesaving life-enhancing work.

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Draft international petition: A care income for all caring work for people and planet

By Global Women's Strike | 3rd January 2023

Caring for others is the foundation of every society. Yet this work, done mostly by women, in the home, on the land and in the community, is devalued, unwaged or low waged, leading to poverty, dependence and endless work. The pandemic and above all the climate emergency have forced us to recognise that caring for and protecting people and the natural world must become the universal priority.

Read More

Nadja News: Ten times women’s unpaid care work was recognised in history.

By Global Women's Strike | 7th December 2022

Cooking, cleaning, gathering food and water, and caring for children and the elderly are vital for families and societies. Yet this work, performed by women 75% of the time, has seldom been given the recognition it deserves, creating huge inequality around the world. Here are ten times unpaid care work has been recognised for what it…

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What Mothers and Other Caregivers Want: Fill in the International Survey.

By Global Women's Strike | 19th October 2022

We write to bring to your attention our What do mothers and caregivers want? international survey. We urge you to fill it in and/or circulate it among family, friends and social networks if you haven’t already. The survey is being circulated in different countries and four languages so far – English, Italian, Spanish and Thai – and has…

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Video: Wages for Housework: 50 years of campaigning – Empowering Women: A Care Income for People and Planet

By Global Women's Strike | 26th March 2022

Watch the webinar here: https://www.facebook.com/GlobalWomensStrike/videos/389912809261517 Empowering caregivers is advanced as a strategy against poverty and for climate justice. This webinar showcases international efforts from the 1995 UN Beijing conference decision to measure and value unremunerated work in the home, on the land and in the community, to the Wages for Housework Campaign which spearheaded the…

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Women and mothers of South Peasants Federation Thailand have said what a Care Income would mean to them as people who care for the family, the community, and the land.

By Global Women's Strike | 5th July 2021

A Care Income would mean: Economic liberation .. it would mean being independent from the men Now I have to manage to provide for everything on a tiny amount of money. Every single day I have to spend a lot of time thinking and planning how to manage. If I have a care income I…

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Statement: International Women’s Day 2021

By Global Women's Strike | 8th March 2021

Global Women’s Strike & Women of Colour GWS – International Women’s Day 2021 CARING for PEOPLE and PLANET Against POVERTY and DICTATORSHIP Women (and men) in a number of countries are calling for a Care Income Now!, an income for all those – beginning with women, the first carers everywhere, and extending to all genders…

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Event: Remembering Berta Cáceres, 8 March

By Global Women's Strike | 4th March 2021

Dear friends, We are forwarding information (below) about an 8 March International Women’s Day event 3-4.30pm (UK time) in memory of Berta Cáceres. Her daughter Bertha Zuñiga Cáceres will be speaking. Please share and circulate with your networks, thank you. Global Women’s Strike This International Women’s Day we remember Berta Cáceres, Indigenous leader and environmental…

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