Digitalized Care Work
Digitalized care work refers to the ways care activities are increasingly organized through digital platforms, applications, and data infrastructures. It encompasses a wide range of practices, from platform-based domestic and care work to appointment scheduling, health monitoring, school communications, and the often invisible coordination involved in managing family care. While digital tools can make care more accessible and efficient, they can also render care work more flexible, precarious, and difficult to recognize. As care becomes increasingly mediated by technology, questions emerge about who performs care, under what conditions, and according to whose values and priorities.
CURRENT STATISTICS
435
An estimated 435 million people worldwide earn income through digital platforms. Domestic work, care services, and other forms of labor are increasingly mediated through platform-based systems.
3x
Women spend approximately three times more time than men on unpaid domestic and care work. As care becomes increasingly digitalized, many coordination and management tasks continue to fall disproportionately on women.
2.6
Approximately 2.6 billion people worldwide lack access to the internet. This digital divide creates significant inequalities in access to telehealth, online care services, and digital support systems.
CURRENT CARE POLICIES
Care Policy Recommendations Tool
At İhtimam, we curate emerging care policy recommendations and translate them into practical guidance for different stakeholders. Select a stakeholder group and thematic area to explore relevant policy recommendations, strategies, and actions from Türkiye and around the world.
THE FUTURE OF CARE
Care Radar
The Care Radar tracks emerging developments, weak signals, and evolving conversations across the care landscape. It is designed to help us understand how care is changing and to explore these shifts through an ethical and systems-oriented lens.
Platform-Mediated Care Employment
Childcare, eldercare, and domestic care services are increasingly matched through digital platforms. While access becomes easier, commission fees and precarious working conditions are creating a new care marketplace.
The Rise of Digital Coordination Work
School apps, health portals, messaging groups, and appointment systems are digitizing the invisible work of care. Tracking information, entering data, and managing notifications create new layers of cognitive and organizational labor.
Digital Monitoring in the Home
Sensors and remote monitoring technologies aim to enhance safety and support care provision. At the same time, continuous data collection raises concerns about privacy, autonomy, and relational trust.
Algorithmic Care Planning
AI-powered systems are increasingly used to optimize appointments, medication schedules, and service matching. While these tools can reduce coordination burdens, questions remain about transparency, accountability, and responsibility when errors occur.
Digital Literacy Gaps
As care processes become more digital, access to technology and digital skills become increasingly important. Older adults and lower-income groups may face barriers in navigating digital care systems.
Remote Therapy and Support Services
Online therapy, physiotherapy, and care counseling services are becoming more widespread. While they reduce geographic barriers, concerns around digital fatigue and the quality of human connection continue to grow.
The Fragmentation of Care Work
Platform-based care jobs are increasingly organized as short-term, task-based, or hourly work. While offering flexibility, these arrangements can weaken income stability and access to social protections.
The Economic Value of Care Data
Data generated through health and care activities has growing economic value for technology companies, insurers, and platform providers. Questions of data ownership, consent, and ethical use are becoming more prominent.
The Tension Between Support and Surveillance
Digital tools can help caregivers coordinate responsibilities and manage complex care arrangements. At the same time, they enable performance tracking and continuous monitoring. Care work is not only supported but also increasingly measured, standardized, and subject to oversight.
