Care and Support as Career Choice

Ranjan K Baruah

Care works are always important whether it is paid or unpaid. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) the global care workforce comprises 249 million women and 132 million men. By 2030, the number of care recipients is predicted to reach 2.3 billion, driven by an additional 0.1 billion older persons and an additional 0.1 billion children aged 6 to 14 years and women perform 76.2 per cent of the total amount of unpaid care work, 3.2 times more time than men.

Growing populations, ageing societies, changing families, women’s secondary status in labour markets and shortcomings in social policies demand urgent action on the organization of care work from governments, employers, trade unions and individual citizens. If not adequately addressed, current deficits in care service provision and its quality will create a severe and unsustainable global care crisis and increase gender inequalities at work.

We should know that care work consists of two overlapping activities: direct, personal and relational care activities, such as feeding a baby or nursing an ill partner; and indirect care activities, such as cooking and cleaning. Unpaid care work is care work provided without a monetary reward by unpaid caregivers. Unpaid care is considered as work and is thus a crucial dimension of the world of work. Paid care work is performed for pay or profit by care workers. They comprise a wide range of personal service workers, such as nurses, teachers, doctors and personal care workers. Domestic workers, who provide both direct and indirect care in households, are also part of the care workforce.

The United Nations General Assembly decided to proclaim 29 October as International Day of Care and Support. The care economy is growing as the demand for childcare and care for the elderly is increasing in all regions. With the global demand for domestic workers likely to grow, the ILO steps up action to ensure they have access to decent work. It will thus create a great number of jobs in the coming years and this is the opportunity for younger women from regions like North East India. There are demands for caregivers in countries like Japan and others where the elderly population has increased.

From career perspectives studying Nursing is one of the best courses when it comes to care and support. Both male and female may take admission but we see more girls taking admissions in nursing courses. One may take admission into B Sc Nursing courses for which aspirants must come from science stream with Biology in senior secondary level. There are other courses like GNM and ANM which can be opted by students from other streams too. There are short term skill training courses like patient care provided by different institutes. Students must look at the credibility of the institutes before taking admissions.

Apart from the academic qualifications one must have patience as well as passion to be successful in this field. Language skills always help as there is demand globally. Knowing foreign languages like German or Japanese would be always helpful for those who want to work in those countries. Healthcare has become one of India’s largest sectors, both in terms of revenue and employment which bring more opportunities for trained and qualified caregivers and all those who are engaged in giving support.