What is the potential for the purple economy?

This transformative approach offers a path not only to overcoming the limitations of the current economic system, but to building an inclusive, just and sustainable future.

In the search for more just and sustainable economic and social alternatives, the feminist movement develops a revolutionary concept: the purple economy. Rooted in feminism and intersectionality, this approach seeks to transform traditional structures of economics, the value of care, gender equality, social justice and human well-being.

In a world facing increasingly complex challenges, societies marked by inequality, environmental degradation, and the dominance of extractive and capitalist systems, the purple economy emerges as a transformative approach that seeks to challenge and transform all systems of oppression and discrimination. in all aspects of life.

The purple economy is based on the premise that caring for people and the environment should be at the center of economic policies and activities.

As defined by the feminist economist Amaya Perez Orozco Caring is “all those activities which make it possible to renew life every day” and therefore, we all need to survive. Without them, there is no life. Care takes place through interaction with others, as well as with the environment. We are interdependent and must have a holistic view of the environment. It is important that care is seen as a shared responsibility and not just an individual or private responsibility. There must be a fair distribution of this responsibility at the community level, which implies addressing the family sphere and the commitment of states, the private sector and markets, as well as the societal public sphere. It is about valuing all care assignments, paid and unpaid, and promoting their recognition and fair distribution.

Care: diluted and reserved for women

According to data from International Labor Organization (ILO), 75% of unpaid care work in the world is done by women. Also Report of the United Nations Women It reveals that women spend on average three times more time in unpaid care than men, although there are significant differences between countries and contexts. The time-consuming and often physically demanding nature of unpaid care and domestic work impedes women’s access to decent work and income opportunities, as well as basic rights such as education, political participation and leisure time.

In 2019, the ILO also estimated that if the current pace and trend continues, it will take more than two centuries to close the gender gap in time for unpaid care work. In addition, it is estimated that 76.2% of paid domestic workers globally are performed by women. This statistic highlights the trend of outsourcing paid care work to women, often in precarious conditions and without…