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- I'm Edie Lush and I'm here at Davos.

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It is 2023.

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Really pleased to be here in the studio

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with our partner BCG

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and I'm absolutely delighted to be here

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with Sharon Marcil.

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Thanks for stopping by.

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How are you?
- Oh, I'm good.

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It's great to be here.

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- Good.
- Thank you.

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- So, Sharon,

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you are the North America Regional Chair

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for Boston Consulting Group.

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- Yes I am.

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- And you're going to
talk to me about a subject

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that I care passionately about,

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which is the care economy.

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But as a good journalist,
let's define our terms.

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What is the care economy?

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- Okay. So, Edie, the care economy

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is the $6 trillion economy
within the US for care.

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And 4 trillion of that is actually unpaid,

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2 trillion of it is paid

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and people typically think
of that being for childcare

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but this is the entire care network.

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So, it includes eldercare, spouse care.

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$6 trillion economy.

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- It's extraordinarily large.

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And as somebody who has

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taken time off work

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to look after small kids

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and also who has aging parents,

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I know, and I know a lot
of folks, not just women

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have issues with it.

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But tell me what the problem is with it.

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- It's a big issue.

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It's been a long-term
issue due to demographics,

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people living longer,

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but the issue actually
exploded during COVID.

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So, I'll share a few facts with you.

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So, if you look at the economy right now,

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there are 11 million open positions.

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1.8 million of those
are in the care economy.

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Digging into that,

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if you look, for example, in
nursing homes, eldercare,

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400,000 workers quit during or after COVID

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and they have not come
back to the workforce.

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- And tell me why.

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- It's super hard work.

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It's really hard work.

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The pay is pretty low,

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and many of these people have

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people they need to take care of,

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whether it's their
parents or their children.

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And so, they're weighing,

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the cost of gas, what they're making,

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the hard work that it is

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and they're making the
choice for their family

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to not do it and to stay at home.

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If you flash that forward

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between childcare and eldercare,

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BCG estimates that in the year 2030,

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this will result in a $290 billion gap

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in terms of our economy.

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So, it's a big deal.

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- It's extraordinary.

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Okay. So, what about solutions?

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What can companies do about this?

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- It's going to take companies
and government, I think,

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but I think there's a
lot companies can do.

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So, first of all, embracing

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some of what we learned during COVID

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in terms of remote work.

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I think that provides
flexibility in terms of care,

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reduces, obviously drive time.

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So, I think there's just the
embracing of flexibility.

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The other thing is please offer

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paternity leave and maternity leave.

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We've seen a reversal of
some of those policies,

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in fact, fewer companies

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offering paid paternity
and maternity leave.

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- I find that extraordinary.
- It's extraordinary.

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It increased for many, many years

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and now we're seeing a reversal.

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And the last thing is paid family leave.

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It's not just when you have children,

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that's not the only time
that there are care needs,

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you know, whether it's
a spouse or a parent,

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you need paid family leave.

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So, I think best-in-class
companies are doing that

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and I think that's what companies can do.

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- Sharon, thanks so much for stopping by

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at the studio here in Davos 2023.

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And I'm Edie Lush.