This entry received 1st prize in an AY2025/2026 op-ed competition by Bridging GAP (Gender and Policy), a student group at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy which aims to enhance awareness of the importance of gender among public policy students.
Caregiving for sick or old relatives, children, or other family members causes millions of women in Indonesia to wake before the sun comes up. Households and communities rely on their labour, yet it is hardly brought up in economic debates or labour legislation.
Many see Indonesia as a youthful nation reaping the benefits of a demographic dividend. I still think that. Yet another shift is taking place behind the scenes. Generations are becoming more separated in Indonesia due to factors such as higher life expectancy, shifting family patterns, and labour migration. The result is in an increase in demand for childcare, disability assistance, and eldercare, and the burden is falling on individual homes rather than systemic organizations.
Whether Indonesia has enough care work is not the issue at hand. Every day, all throughout the world, care is taking place. Whether we continue to depend on unpaid and informal care, which is primarily done by women, or if we accept care as an economic good that can be enhanced, supported, and appropriately compensated is the true question.
The research on unpaid care in Indonesia by SMERU makes a straightforward but important point that policy discussion about unpaid care fail to take it into account, despite the fact that it determines who can work, for how long, and under what conditions. Similarly, the World Bank’s report on Indonesia’s care economy concludes that women’s unpaid care duties prevent them from entering and staying in the workforce, and that enhancing the care ecosystem constitutes economic policy as well as social policy.
Working to promote gender equality and youth employment in coastal and rural areas has exposed me to this dynamic time and time again. Women make a significant impact in the economy through their work with family businesses, micro-enterprises, and community programs. However, the duties that generate income are rarely the last part of their working day. Default caretakers at home are still they. The job they take, the hours they may work, the possibility of travelling for training, and whether or not they continue working after marriage or having a kid are all impacted by this double burden.
Again, the majority of those providing care are women, and this type of work is deeply ingrained in community institutions. Women predominate in family welfare and community health volunteer positions where I have worked. Their efforts are crucial, but they are frequently dismissed as “voluntary” rather than respected as paid labour requiring education, safety nets, and recognition for their efforts. Because it allows us to see what has been normalized for decades and ask why it remain unseen, the care economy discourse is important for this reason.
This is more difficult to overlook in light of Indonesia’s demographic reality. As the population ages and care needs increase, there is growing consensus among policy makers that a national strategy to care service is necessary. Even more explicitly, the International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF) report on care needs and infrastructure in Indonesia states that the current system of unmet care demand is being filled through a combination of paid domestic work, informal arrangements, and households, with the workers involved frequently lacking proper rights and protections.
This is the part that gets left out of discussions on important issues. Domestic workers are often relied upon by families when they are unable to manage care on their own. Despite the importance of paid domestic work in providing care requirements, many domestic workers are still not eligible for social security or basic labour protections, as highlighted in the IDWF research. Indonesia must stop treating domestic workers like second-class citizens if it is serious about elevating caregiving to a profession. They play an important role in the care economy, and it is important to value care in order to value them.
After that, how does Indonesian care professionalization look like in practice?
As a first step, we need to reframe care from a “private” to a “national” infrastructure. Because care affects so many different areas simultaneously, the World Bank’s care economy roadmap advocates for investment across the care ecosystem, not just services but also governance and coordination. Care for elderly, disabilities support, community health, preschool programs, and other forms of early childhood education cannot exist in a vacuum and rely on families to fill the gaps.
The second point is that caregiving is a form of skilled labour. This is particularly true for the sector’s present informal and semi-formal care jobs, which necessitate training programs, certification, and salary standards. This is about more than just respect. Issues of quality and safety are also central. Complex care, such as that for the elderly, those with disabilities, or young children, necessitates specializes knowledge and abilities.
Third, private sectors need to step up, not as a charity but as a strategy for attracting and retaining talent. Flexible work schedules, paid parental leave, and employer-supported childcare are frequently described as nice to haves. Retention and productivity are really impacted by them. The World Bank analysis is clear that care constraints help explain why women’s labour force participation remains low compared to men’s.
The fourth point is that women should not be confined to caregiving roles while professionalizing the care industry. Indonesia risks institutionalizing long-standing gender inequality if the new growth sector of care continues to be socially classified as the labour of women. Whether it’s domestic caregiving or careers in healthcare, men are essential to the care economy. Parental leave that includes fathers, work rules that don’t penalize men for caring, and public messaging that views care as a shared role are all pieces of the puzzle that can change this.
Finally, we need to be honest about the future of work that the care economy has the potential to be a major source of employment for Indonesians, particularly those living outside of major cities where traditional employment opportunities are few. In every neighbourhood, there is already care work. A better alternative to using unseen workers is to increase its quality and value while also providing good employment opportunities.
In addition to infrastructure and technology, the ability of families to juggle work and care without reducing women’s economic participation will determine Indonesia’s growth objectives. An aside, we must not overlook the care economy. The functioning of the economy depends on it, whether or not it grows more equitable depends on it as well.
If we want a future of work that includes women, support families, and creates real opportunities for young people, we need to start with an honest admission that Indonesia already runs on care. The remaining question is whether we will finally treat it like it matters.