The Lack of Data Hinders Effective Corporate Policies and Talent Retention
Unpaid caregiving jobs have widened the gender participation gap in the labor force, with women’s participation being 30.1 percentage points lower than men’s, according to the National Development Plan (NDP). The NDP highlights creating a National Care System (NCS) as one of its strategies to address this issue.
While designing policies to balance caregiving responsibilities is crucial for leveling the playing field between men and women, the absence of accurate data in companies regarding the number of caregivers they employ poses a significant barrier to implementing robust strategies.
Women Workers Lack Childcare Services
The NDP points out that eight out of ten working women lack access to childcare services, which limits their full integration into the labor market and perpetuates the precarious nature of female employment. The question remains: what are organizations doing about this?
Ana María Flores, an expert in inclusive corporate policies at the Coordinating Council of Mexican Employers (CCE) for Early Childhood, explains that without knowing the number of caregivers, it’s impossible to design effective policies. “If we don’t know how many people are mothers, fathers, or caregivers, we can’t create policies that address their needs,” she says.
Lack of Information on Caregiving Reflects in Corporate Policies
The CCE’s survey, “Caring Companies: A Snapshot of Family Support Policies in the Mexican Business Sector,” reveals that nearly three out of ten companies are unaware of how many employees have caregiving responsibilities. This lack of information on childcare-related matters hinders the development of effective work-life balance policies.
Policies Implemented Without Understanding the People
The survey emphasizes that the absence of corporate data complicates designing effective work-life balance policies, which can identify the best benefits for employees and help reduce turnover rates. For instance, without knowing how many women leave after maternity, companies cannot retain them, affecting various aspects of motherhood, including breastfeeding.
Ana María Flores notes that caregiving issues are one of the main barriers for women entering and remaining in the formal economy. However, companies have only recently started to recognize the situation.
The CCE survey highlights that 47.7% of companies do not invest in corporate social responsibility programs for childcare, and at least 5.6% are unsure if they do. Of the 46.7% that do invest, there’s no guarantee their support is truly effective.
This lack of information and measurement results in insufficient progress to meet the needs of caregiving employees, Flores concludes. The challenge is transitioning from isolated initiatives to comprehensive corporate policies that recognize caregiving as a human right and shared responsibility.
National Care System: The Government’s Bet
Regarding public sector strategies, Flores asserts that significant progress has been made, with organizations beginning to understand the challenges faced by caregivers in the private sector through international organizations.
However, numbers matter. Despite unpaid domestic and caregiving work accounting for 26.4% of the national GDP in 2023, those engaged in these activities—mostly women—do not receive a “fair compensation,” placing them at a financial disadvantage, according to the NDP 2025-2030.
The document announces the construction of the National Care System, aligned with the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) and the National System for the Integral Development of the Family (DIF), targeting early childhood care from the first 1,000 days of life.
The strategy is already included in public spending. The Federal Expenditure Budget (PEF) 2026 includes the creation of Annex 31, “Consolidation of a Care Society,” with an allocated budget of 466,674.9 million pesos (1.2% of the GDP), with 38,596.1 million earmarked for the NCS, according to the Center for Economic Research and Budgeting (CIEP).
However, the CIEP’s analysis, “National Care System: Advances and Budgetary Limitations,” warns that these resources do not imply additional funding and there is no articulated public policy strategy in this area.
Moreover, the federal government included the NCS as a key action in its Special Program for Productivity and Competitiveness 2025-2030, aligning with the National Development Plan.
What Are Companies Doing?
While the outcome of government strategies regarding caregiving work in Mexico remains to be seen, some companies independently view family-friendly policies as a business strategy, Flores emphasizes.
The CCE survey shows that nearly six out of ten organizations lack any support for childcare services, and 8.4% of those that do offer such support charge families. Nevertheless, conversations are opening up in these spaces.
Survey data reveals that almost seven out of ten companies have flexible policies for attending school events or handling family matters, and 28% use a time bank. Part-time or full-time remote work options focused on goal fulfillment are also common.
The survey coordinator celebrates these initiatives but stresses the need to listen to employees, understand their challenges, and maintain records based on measurements to ensure strategies and benefits positively impact both society and the organizations themselves.
“Measure, listen to people, conduct focus groups and interviews to understand what’s happening in the organization. If someone is leaving due to caregiving issues, identify that person’s concern to address it as an organization,” she suggests.
Flores also advocates for training leaders to raise their awareness of employees’ needs and ideally incorporate these policies into writing, making rights accessible for employees to learn about and utilize.
