Good practice

Sistema Nacional Integrado de Cuidados de Uruguay

Uruguay · Montevideo · See the Uruguay profile

La Ley 19.353 (2015) de Uruguay creó el primer sistema nacional de cuidados de América Latina, profesionalizando el trabajo de cuidado y ampliando el acceso a guarderías y cuidado de mayores para redistribuir la carga de cuidado no remunerado que recae sobre todo en las mujeres.

23.8 %

Trabajo de cuidados no remunerado como proporción del PIB (2022)

94.9 %

Trabajadores de cuidados remunerados registrados que son mujeres

Sistema Nacional Integrado de Cuidados de Uruguay

Details

Maturity: Established
Promoter: Secretaría Nacional de Cuidados, Ministerio de Desarrollo Social (MIDES), Uruguay
Period: 2015–present
Keywords: care economy, unpaid work, childcare, long-term care, social policy

Context

La Ley 19.353 (2015) de Uruguay creó el Sistema Nacional Integrado de Cuidados (SNIC), el primer sistema nacional de cuidados de América Latina, ampliando el cuidado infantil subvencionado, la teleasistencia domiciliaria para personas mayores y los servicios de asistencia personal para personas con discapacidad, al tiempo que formalizó el trabajo de cuidados como profesión regulada.

Results

La Encuesta Nacional de Uso del Tiempo de 2022 de Uruguay reveló que el trabajo de cuidados no remunerado equivale al 23.8% del PIB, con una contribución de las mujeres de 16.0 puntos porcentuales frente a 7.8 de los hombres; en el sector de cuidados remunerados resultante, el 94.9% de los trabajadores registrados son mujeres.

Conclusions

La investigación independiente sobre los centros de primera infancia SIEMPRE constató que aumentan la disponibilidad de las mujeres para el trabajo remunerado y la formación, pero que por sí solos no logran una redistribución significativa de los cuidados dentro de los hogares, ni incluyen herramientas específicas para promover la corresponsabilidad de los padres.

Implementation

Implementation detail (cost, timeline, staffing, conditions for success) is not yet available for this practice.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

C-NAPSE web research — accessed 2026-07-05
Secretaría Nacional de Cuidados, Ministerio de Desarrollo Social (MIDES), Uruguay — accessed 2026-07-05
ILO — How a new law in Uruguay boosted care services while breaking gender stereotypes — accessed 2026-07-05
Align Platform — Transforming gender norms through Uruguay's National Integrated Care System — accessed 2026-07-05
CEPAL — Sistema Nacional Integrado de Cuidados (SNIC) Uruguay, repository of policies — accessed 2026-07-05

Attachments

Source image

Quality score: 85/100

How is this calculated?

Evidence: Observational / pre–post

Top 22% in this catalogue (719 scored practices)

Scores cluster high, so position within the catalogue is often more telling than the number alone.

Evaluation

Evaluated by C-NAPSE

Score profile — the dimensions behind the score — how it's computed

Transferability / replicability2/3

A national legal and institutional model (law + secretariat + service network) that other Latin American countries (e.g. Colombia's Care Blocks) have already drawn on, though replication requires sustained fiscal commitment.

Impact on gender equality1/1

Independent time-use data shows the gendered care gap (women 16.0% vs men 7.8% of GDP in unpaid work) that the policy targets, but researchers found no measured household-level redistribution yet.

Effectiveness1/1

The system has professionalised and expanded care services over a decade, evidenced by a formal registered care workforce and INE time-use tracking, though co-responsibility goals remain unmet.

Efficiency1/1

Built on existing social-security (BPS) and ministry (MIDES) infrastructure rather than a new bureaucracy, per ILO reporting on service delivery.

Evaluated outcomes1/1

Tracked through Uruguay's official 2022 Time Use Survey (INE) and independent academic evaluation of SIEMPRE centres (Align Platform), both cited with concrete figures.

Sustainability1/1

In continuous operation since 2015 with a new 2026-2030 National Care Plan formally adopted, indicating institutional continuity across governments.

Achievement / evidence1/1

94.9% of the formal paid care workforce being women, and 23.8%-of-GDP unpaid care work quantified, are concrete, sourced achievements in visibility and measurement.

Gender-mainstreaming embedding0/1

Evaluators explicitly found the flagship childcare centres lack tools or training to shift care responsibilities toward men, so mainstreaming of co-responsibility is still weak in practice.

Curator validation1/1

Figures cross-checked against the ILO's country case study and the Align Platform peer-reviewed-adjacent policy report, both independently corroborating the INE 2022 Time Use Survey figures.

Cite this

Evidoria. Sistema Nacional Integrado de Cuidados de Uruguay. Persistent ID: ec85d2da-9409-48a9-9425-9221ffbcebf2.

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