Debates on Care in Latin America: Aging, Inequalities, and Public Policies

Abstract

This article aims to reflect on the social organization of care in Latin America in relation to the demographic aging affecting the region. This process poses challenges for families, particularly for women, as well as for the provision of care from a rights-based perspective. Care is a fundamental human activity that sustains life and is characterized by feminization, invisibility, and limited social recognition. The article analyzes the forms that care provision takes in the region in order to problematize the scope of public policies. Demographic projections indicate a deepening of population aging, which will lead to an increased demand for long-term care. Latin American societies already show signs of a care crisis, whose reversal will require profound economic and cultural transformations.