Original Article
The Care Agenda in Latin America: Towards a New Understanding of Well-being?
First published: 11 June 2025
The author thanks Carolina Miranda, Amparo Bravo and Lucia Scuro for their valuable exchanges on social protection and care in Latin America on numerous occasions, as well as the anonymous referees for their enriching comments on an earlier draft of this article.
ABSTRACT
Since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020–22, care policies have gained increasing relevance worldwide, particularly in Latin America. Currently, several countries in this region are developing care policies based on feminist principles that position care as a central component in the reproduction of societies. This perspective recognizes care as a social need that must be addressed and as a crucial tool for promoting fairer and more equitable gender relations. Through an extensive documentary analysis that includes government documents, reports from international organizations, laws, decrees and regulations related to care in eight Latin American countries, this article outlines the care agenda in the region from 2020 to 2024. The article examines how this agenda challenges the notion of well-being in Latin American societies and the traditional social protection frameworks that characterize this region.
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