The federal government published on Thursday (24) the presidential decree 12.562/2025which regulates the law that created the National Care Policy (PNC), sanctioned in December 2024. 
The new policy aims to guarantee the right to care, through public policies that encourage the sharing of responsibilities between men and women, besides the state, the private sector and civil society.
In a statement, the Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Hunger Fighting (MDS) states that the Decree recognizes care as a right to be guaranteed by the state and as an essential work for the well-being of people, the reproduction and support of life and the functioning of society and the economy.
Next Steps
The decree will enable the details of the National Care Plan for its full application. The plan will be written in a joint decree of the Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of Women and Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship.
In this technical document, actions will be presented to benefit the population and their budget and cost sources; specific objectives; the implementation instruments; the concepts, the period of validity; and the organs and entities responsible for the execution of the actions.
“Now it’s the responsibility of working on the plan. We are very happy because this is a key step,” said MDS minister Wellington Dias.
On the day of the publication of the decree, the National Secretary of Care and Family of the folder that takes care of social assistance in the federal government, Laís Abramo, said at a decent debate table for young black women, that the law that establishes the National Care Policy – passed by the National Congress and sanctioned by President Lula, in 2024 – It was widely discussed with several public sectors and that there was wide participation of civil society. “We made listening wheels with peripheral communities, the advice on the defense of the elderly rights, the disabled, youth, racial equality, the anti -racist feminist forum, the country women and the forests. We tried to capture the care needs of the population and also did the dialogue with Congress. [Nacional] And with the gym, ”reported Laís Abramo.
The MDS secretary assessed the importance of approval by the National Congress Care Police within a period of less than 36 months, almost unanimously.
“The national care policy establishes for the first time in the country, the right to care and defines that it should be guaranteed through corresponding between men and women, between the family, the community, the private sector and the state, facing the multiple and intersectionalities, cultural inequalities, which characterize the social organization of care, which are of gender, race, ethnicity, class, territory, age and disability.
The plan will be implemented in a decentralized manner in collaboration with the states, the Federal District and the municipalities, which may voluntarily adhere.
Public policy will be funded with federated public budgets, as well as donations from individuals or legal entities, from the country or abroad.
National Care Plan
According to the decree, the plan objectives are:
- Promote access to quality care for those who need and those who take care.
- Foster the compatibility between paid public and private work and workers care needs, for example, related to the workload.
- Ensure decent work for domestic workers and paid care, ensuring labor rights and combating prejudice, eradication of child labor and analogous to slavery and precarious labor.
- Reduce and redistribute the unpaid care workload, which historically overloads women.
- Promote a cultural change that recognizes care as need, work and right of all.
- Improve data and statistics on care to subsidize the management of the plan and measure the economic and social value of unpaid labor.
- Face gender inequality in care relationships.
Data
In Brazil, data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) show that black women or browns spend more time on housework and people care, participate less in the job market and are most affected by poverty.
In 2022, while women devoted, on average, 21.3 hours per week to household chores and/or care of people, men spent 11.7 hours. Black or brown women devoted 1.6 more hours a week in these tasks than white ones.
The female participation rate in the labor market was 53.3% while men was 73.2%.
Among teenagers who did not complete high school in the country, one third stopped studying or never studied due to their need to take care of the house, children and daughters and other relatives.
The number is 66% higher for young black women compared to white. This is also the main reason why more than 80% of mothers of children from 0 to 3 years were out of the job market in 2022. They could not even seek a job or could not accept one, if offered.
THE Publication was celebrated During the program of the 18th Latinidades Festival, held in the Federal District until July 31st.
