The value of unpaid care for disabled, ill and older people in the UK is equal to the entire budget of the NHS, yet it’s not even counted in our GDP. In a blog for Carers Week, Katy Styles explains why she founded the grassroots, volunteer-led We Care campaign to demand a new deal for the millions of invisible carers like her.
How can we tell a new story that boosts support for all care and carers?
The millions of paid and unpaid carers across the UK – including parents and guardians of children, social care and childcare workers, and unpaid carers for disabled, ill and elderly people – desperately need a new deal. Silvia Galandini, Anam Parvez (both Oxfam GB) and Nick Gadsby (The Answer) introduce a new toolkit that can help build public pressure for change, by constructing a fresh and compelling narrative about the value of all care.
Defying violence and repression, women are finding new ways to connect and campaign for human rights
Whether resisting oppressive laws in Zimbabwe, peacebuilding in the former Yugoslavia, or speaking up for migrants on the US-Mexico border, women are leading the push for rights across the globe. Anandita Ghosh introduces the latest issue of the Oxfam-edited Gender & Development Journal on “Women Human Rights Defenders”.
So much of the work that millions of Asian women do is invisible: here’s how to change that and value unpaid care
The huge economic contribution of women carers in Asia and the Pacific remains invisible, undervalued and unsupported by governments. Changing that means better research, investment in public services, and including carers in policy making, say Myrah Nerine Butt and Saleha Shah
Governments know shockingly little about the millions of informal and unpaid women workers – and, in a world that undervalues their labour, that’s no accident
Millions of unpaid care and informal workers too often live in poverty, face long hours with harsh conditions, and see their efforts dismissed as “not real work”. On International Workers’ Day, Alex Bush calls for those in power to find out much more about these women as a crucial first step to valuing their work.
Human rights defenders in the crosshairs
Activists are losing their lives in defence of human rights and the environment. Caroline Brodeur introduces a new Oxfam briefing that spells out how the private sector can and must become part of the solution.
Power at our fingertips: feminists in Asia stake their claim to digital space
Whether reshaping gender narratives via TikTok, or highlighting sustainable farming via Facebook, women in Asia are mobilising on digital platforms like never before, says Myrah Butt in the latest blog in our International Women’s Day series.
Migrant women are raising their voices against an unjust childcare system: it’s time to listen to them
Whether depriving nannies of labour rights, or locking mothers out of child benefit, the UK can be a callous place for migrant childcare workers and parents, says Veronica Deutsch. And the battle to reform the childcare system starts by listening to the women affected.
Words matter: that’s why Oxfam is launching an inclusive language guide
What do you think of the term “developing countries”? Ever felt uncomfortable saying “beneficiaries”? Helen Wishart introduces Oxfam’s new inclusive language guide and sets out why it’s time for all of us in NGOs to consider the power in the words that we use…
How can businesses take the lead on women’s leadership?
In our second blog for International Women’s Day, Jiselle Steele and Fernanda Dezotti highlight five ways gender experts say firms can transform gender balance at the top.