Women’s unpaid care and domestic work, together with its impact on labour market participation, has become an increasingly important topic in the global policy arena. The pervasive belief in most communities that women are caregivers has shaped labour markets all over the world. 

The study, ‘Thai Women’s Unpaid Care and Domestic Work and the Impact on Decent Employment’ has been commissioned under the collaboration between UNDP and the Department of Women’s Affairs and Family Development under the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, the Ministry of Labour, as well as the International Labour Organization and UN Women.

The COVID-19 pandemic, along with its consequences, the closure of childcare centres and primary schools and the separation from regular channels for elder and disability care, has worsened the situation for millions of women across the world. Care work has been considered the responsibilty of individual households, although the work itself has been primarily done by women.

This report contributes to understanding the overall magnitude, dynamics, and impacts of unpaid care and domestic work on women in Thailand and identifies several crucial measures to address the dynamic. Recovery from the economic crisis caused by the pandemic can be more robust and inclusive by creating more decent employment for women.