KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 29 — Selangor will outline five important elements in establishing a framework or policy related to the care economy involving children, women and the elderly in the state.
State Women Development and Social Welfare Committee chairman Anfaal Saari said the five elements that will be included in the framework, which is expected to be launched in the second quarter of 2024, are advocacy and promotion, governance and regulation, trained workforce and caregivers, investment and collaboration as well as innovation and technology.
“Advocacy and promotion to identify the importance, the current state of the care economy, if we can coordinate (initiatives), then there is an economic opportunity. For the second thrust, the state government intends to meet the needs of parents such as nurseries and so on.
“The third is to ensure that trained workforce and caregivers get structured training, fourth (investment and collaboration) is where the government plays a role to give incentives to companies for example in data collection,” she said in an interview on the Ruang Bicara programme over Bernama TV last night.
She said the fifth thrust focuses on the use of technology to improve efficiency and provide access to the target group.
The care work is broadly defined as consisting of activities and relations involved in meeting the physical, psychological and emotional needs of adults and children, old and young, frail and able-bodied.
Almost the entire aspect of care is not only burdened on the shoulders of mothers or women, but most of the important roles that enable the economy to function are informal and do not involve payment.
Anfaal explained that the framework can solve various problems arising for women in the care work sector because it is seen through its relationship with the market, work wages, the characteristics of the work done and the target of care receivers in the sector, which is based on two main issues which are unpaid care work and underpaid care work.
In addition, she also said that the percentage of women outside the labour force is 69.6 per cent and one of the main factors contributing to the scenario is housework or responsibilities to the family.
A study conducted by Khazanah Research Institute (KRI) showed that if there is a 30 per cent increase in the labour force participation rate (LFPR) for women, the gross domestic product (GDP) for Selangor will also increase from 25 per cent to between 27 and 30 per cent.
A study by Merdeka Centre and The Asia Foundation in Selangor from 2020 to 2022 also shows that working women face the challenge of high childcare costs and inflexible working hours that require workplace nurseries. — Bernama
