Working Conditions in the Paid Care Economy in Egypt: Improvement or Deterioration?

The paid care economy plays a crucial role in employing women. This sector also acts as a mechanism to reduce care work within households, which disproportionately affects women. This paper examines the evolution of the paid care economy in Egypt, over the period 2009-2021, drawing on three different data sources to assess trends in employment and working conditions. The analyses demonstrate that, despite stated goals to grow the paid care economy, paid care employment has shrunk over time in Egypt, driven by the retreat of the public sector. While private sector care employment has grown, it has not done so sufficiently to compensate for the decline of the public sector. Furthermore, working conditions in care employment have worsened over time, in part due to the increasing privatization of care employment. The informal share of care employment (without social insurance coverage) has increased over time. Informalization and privatization have particularly affected women in paid care employment. While initially there was not a care pay gap, one has formed over time. Encouraging not only the growth of the paid care economy, but also decent and equitable working conditions is a pressing issue for human development and women’s employment.