Mexico City adopts historic public care system law

Mexico City’s head of government, Clara Brugada, signed the Ley del Sistema Público de Cuidados, a law that recognises a universal right to care, to receive care and to self‑care. The legislation shifts responsibility for caregiving from families and women alone to the state, private sector and community, aiming for universal coverage of services for children, the elderly, persons with disabilities and daily‑care needs.

The law was passed unanimously after a broad consultation that involved more than 6,000 citizens and 150 organisations. Officials highlighted that 58 million people in Mexico need care and three‑quarters of caregivers are women, with 80 percent feeling underserved. The new system is expected to support roughly 30 percent of the city’s economy and reduce gender‑based “time poverty.” UN representatives called the law a potential model for other Latin‑American cities.

Brugada said the measure addresses a historic debt to women and aims to distribute domestic responsibilities more equitably, while the secretariat of Inclusion and Social Welfare described it as a pillar of the social state alongside education, health and security.