This week marks the celebration of the International Day of Care and Support, established in 2023 by the United Nations General Assembly with the goal of recognizing and making visible the essential work carried out daily and consistently by millions of people — mostly women — who care for and accompany those in need.
Care forms one of the least visible yet most fundamental parts of our social fabric. It represents the time, energy, values, and commitment dedicated to ensuring that those who depend on others can live with autonomy and dignity, in the best possible conditions of health and well-being.
It is important to acknowledge that this time and energy also come at a high cost — a cost that, until now, has been borne primarily by individuals, families, and local communities providing care, and only recently and partially taken up by public welfare institutions.
For some time, we have been speaking of the deep Care Crisis affecting our systems of support for dependency. Yet neither our own nor those of neighboring countries have been able to adequately address how to sustainably host and fund — directly or indirectly — the costs required to care properly for our loved ones (which also means caring for ourselves as a collective). So far, these costs have been largely assumed within the private and family sphere.
Recognizing the immense contribution and the generation of social capital that arise from those who provide care is an issue that can be observed from many perspectives, but all demand that we look through the same lens: justice.
Justice means caring for those who care, so that caregiving does not become a future sentence to dependency; and justice means recognizing and returning the social capital from which society as a whole benefits. In both cases, it is about valuing care itself and those who provide it — whether they are family members, neighbors, community caregivers, professional caregivers, or the organizations and structures through which this support is delivered.
The United Nations proposes that the recognition and visibility of caregiving serve as a catalyst toward building a society that understands care as a defining value — a society in which care becomes part of its very identity.
This concept goes beyond being merely “a caring society”: it proposes a paradigm where care is recognized as a global public good, a shared responsibility among individuals, families, communities, institutions, and states, and a cornerstone for social progress and sustainable development.
Toward a “Care Society”
A Care Society is a model of development that places the sustainability of life and collective well-being at its core.
It acknowledges that caring — for people, the environment, and oneself — is the foundation of every economy and every form of social and democratic coexistence.
It implies a transition from care as a private, predominantly female responsibility to care as a collective responsibility, with genuine shared accountability among the state, businesses, communities, families, and individuals.
The key principles defining a Care Society include:
Centrality of care: Care is a human right and a public good, not a private sacrifice.
Shared responsibility: Redistribute tasks, responsibilities, and time among women and men, families, institutions, and the market.
Investment: View care as an investment that drives productivity, efficiency, and inclusive growth.
Public services: Ensure universal and high-quality access to childcare, healthcare, elder support, and all services that enable people to realize their life projects.
As is often the case, it is easier to define what should be done than to determine how to make it happen.
Yet the path toward a Care Society seems to lie in bridging the gap that currently exists between the attitudes commonly associated with care — feminized, private, and perceived as unproductive — and those that would characterize a society that has fully embraced care as a fundamental value.
Concrete Actions for the Transition
Several concrete actions can collectively support this transition — from viewing care as a private, female duty to embracing it as a shared, and even joyful, individual and collective responsibility that unites us all. These include:
Public policy: Strengthen the right to receive quality care and support of universal nature, while also empowering the individuals, organizations, and institutions that provide such care.
Economic strategies: Recognize care as an investment and integrate it into social and economic development strategies, sectoral and sustainability plans, ensuring that the capital generated through care is reinvested in job creation, training and professionalization of caregivers, and the development of protection systems that foster economic growth and well-being.
Private sector and innovation: Private actors can assume their share of responsibility by implementing policies that promote professionalization and improve working conditions. In a context where new technologies allow for deep optimization and resource reuse, public-private collaborations can also support social economy initiatives, such as community-based care cooperatives.
Technology as a Catalyst and Accelerator of Change
In this transition toward a society that values care and places it at the heart of its cultural and structural reality, technology can — and must — play a vital role.
It can enhance each of the elements mentioned above, optimize resources and the capital generated through care, and serve as an amplifier of human qualities rather than their substitute.
Today, many technological innovations and tools are already contributing to this transformation and offering meaningful support to the care sector and to caregivers themselves:
Management apps and collaborative platforms help families and professionals coordinate schedules, share updates on the person’s condition, manage medical histories, and find respite resources within the community.
Telemedicine has proven invaluable by reducing unnecessary travel to healthcare centers — a great relief for people with limited mobility and their caregivers. It facilitates monitoring, routine consultations, and the resolution of concerns without the stress of travel.
Assistive robots are beginning to show their potential, not only for physically demanding tasks (such as lifting or moving individuals), but also as tools for cognitive and social support — guiding memory exercises, combating loneliness, and helping older adults stay connected with loved ones.
E-learning platforms and digital support networks are essential for enhancing caregiving skills and self-care. They offer training to informal caregivers on specific techniques and provide emotional and psychological support, helping manage stress, reduce isolation, and promote professional pathways.
As we can see, these tools not only make caregiving management more efficient but also address key aspects that are vital for the well-being of caregivers and the quality of care itself.
Ultimately, the greatest success of Care Tech will be its ability to free up caregivers’ time, allowing them to dedicate more of it to genuine human connection and companionship.