Initiative Proposed by Brugada for Establishment of Public Care System Law; Aim to Recognize Care as a Fundamental Human Right in CDMX
Mexico City has taken a significant step forward in recognizing care work as a human right with the introduction of a groundbreaking law establishing a comprehensive Public Care System. The legislation, presented by Mexico City's Head of Government, Clara Brugada, aims to create a system that ensures equitable distribution of caregiving responsibilities among the government, private sector, and social sector.
The Public Care System Law, unveiled at the Mexico City Museum in August 2025, is a testament to the city's commitment to addressing the long-standing issue of gender inequality in unpaid care work. Women and girls in Mexico City perform three to four times more unpaid care work than men, and this law aims to redress this imbalance.
Key features of the law include the establishment of a comprehensive Public Care System, providing essential services such as day homes for children aged six months to six years, public spaces for older adults, rehabilitation centers for people with disabilities, community kitchens, and popular laundries. The law also mandates annual budgets for the care system that cannot decrease year-to-year, with the goal of achieving the greatest coverage of care in 30 years.
In addition, the law emphasizes the importance of recognizing care as a human right and obligates all individuals to guarantee it. A constitutional reform will be proposed to recognize care as a human right in Mexico City, and the division of care tasks will no longer be determined by gender roles but distributed among individuals, the government, the private sector, and the social sector.
The proposed constitutional reform will also eliminate the sexual division of labor in Mexico City. Care work, which has long been considered the silent base that supports life and the functioning of the economy, will now be accounted for in the city's economic contributions.
Coordination among the city’s municipalities is crucial to building local care systems that align under the broader framework. The law includes provisions for collaboration between the 16 Mexico City municipalities to implement actions related to this system.
Clara Brugada led the presentation of the Public Care System Law at the Mexico City Museum and also at the 16th Regional Conference on Women, held under the theme "Towards a care society." Araceli Damian, Secretary of Welfare and Social Equality in Mexico City, affirmed that care work must be recognized and that this law is a significant step towards achieving that goal.
This initiative marks a notable example of recognizing care work as a social good and a human right, facilitating its inclusion in public policy and resource distribution in Mexico City's governance framework. The law sets a precedent for other cities and countries to follow, demonstrating the potential for systemic change in addressing gender inequality and the value of care work.
[1] Source: Mexico City Government Official Press Release, August 2025.
- The Public Care System Law, established in Mexico City, acknowledges care work as a human right, aiming to address gender imbalance in unpaid care work by distributing tasks equitably across individuals, the government, the private sector, and the social sector.
- Key provisions of the law include the establishment of essential services such as day homes, public spaces for older adults, rehabilitation centers, community kitchens, and popular laundries, with mandatory annual budgets to achieve the greatest coverage in 30 years.
- This groundbreaking law, presented by Mexico City's Head of Government, Clara Brugada, also emphasizes the importance of recognizing care as a human right in the city's governance framework and seeks to eliminate the sexual division of labor in Mexico City's care system.
