What Kind of Care and What Is the Role of the Family? Reflections on Brazil’s National Care Policy

Abstract

This article aims to analyse the concept of care and the roles attributed to the family and women in the social organisation of care in Brazil, based on the National Care Policy (PNaC), which was established in 2024. The study is qualitative, based on documentary research of government regulations, covering the period from 2023 to 2024. The PNaC seeks to tackle gender inequalities in care work, which women, especially black women, disproportionately carry out. It defines care as the daily work of producing the goods and services necessary to sustain human life and promote people’s well-being, recognising it as a fundamental right. However, there is a tension between guaranteeing care as a universal right and the co-responsibility among the state, the market, and the family. Although the policy seeks to promote co-responsibility in care, there is resistance to cultural changes that involve greater participation by men and the private sector in care work. Additionally, the financing of the PNaC faces challenges in the context of neoliberal and ultra-conservative policies.