Unpaid care work refers to the provision of services within households for other household and community members. It avoids the ambiguities of other terms, including ‘domestic labour’, which can refer both to unpaid care work and to the work of paid domestic workers; ‘unpaid labour’, which can also refer to unpaid care work as well as unpaid work in the family business; ‘reproductive work’, which can refer to unpaid care work as well as giving birth and breastfeeding; and ‘home work’, which can also refer to paid work done in the home on subcontract from an employer. Each word in the term ‘unpaid care work’ is important: (a) unpaid: meaning that the person doing the activity does not receive a wage for it; (b) care: meaning that the activity serves people and their
well-being; (c) work: meaning that the activity has a cost in terms of time and energy and arises out of a social or contractual obligation, such as marriage or less formal social relationships.