The just transition debate centres on how to move away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy systems while safeguarding working conditions, livelihoods, and economic and social rights of workers in industrial sectors.
This debate has mainly focused on paid labour and job security in carbon-intensive sectors. But it overlooks hundreds of millions of people involved in unrecognised work that subsidises these transitions. This “unseen” labour is called “reproductive labour”. It’s work that happens outside the market or formal industrial system but sustains the living conditions of workers in formal labour.
Reproductive labour is primarily associated with the maintenance of the living conditions of the workforce in a capitalistic society. This includes care work, cleaning, food production and healthcare provision. Unpaid work in the household is also integral for understanding reproductive labour.
