The expansion of care services, including attention for the elderly, children, and people with disabilities, could become one of the main drivers of job generation in the coming decades. However, unlike other sectors, these are activities where technology will have a limited role. "If there is a type of job that is not replaceable by artificial intelligence, it can be complemented, but not substituted. Those are care jobs," stated the specialist. The reason, she explained, lies in the human component involved in direct personal care. Tasks such as accompanying an elderly person, administering medication at night, or providing emotional support cannot be completely replaced by automated systems. "Putting a diaper on an elderly person, hugging a distressed child, or caring for someone overnight are deeply human activities," she noted. In this context, the IDB is promoting programs to strengthen the so-called care economy, which includes investments in infrastructure, worker training, and national care systems. According to the institution, allocating resources to this sector not only helps to address population aging but also contributes to increasing female labor participation, as many women leave the workforce to assume care responsibilities at home. In recent years, the organization has mobilized nearly 700 million dollars in financing for care-related projects in the region, including loans to strengthen services for the elderly, early childhood development programs, and professional certification schemes for caregivers. The rapid aging of the population in Latin America and the Caribbean will cause a growing demand for workers dedicated to the care of the elderly, a task that will be difficult to replace with artificial intelligence, said Diana Rodríguez, an advisor to the IDB Group. According to estimates from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), by the year 2050 the region will require around 14 million certified caregivers to attend to the elderly. The specialist explained that demographic aging will profoundly transform labor markets and social policies in Latin America. This phenomenon occurs in a particular context, as the region is aging faster than developed economies but has not reached similar income levels. "While countries like the United States took more than six decades to go from having 10% to 20% of their population over 65 years old, several Latin American countries will experience that change in much shorter periods," she warned. Rodríguez emphasized that this demographic transition represents both a social challenge and an economic opportunity.
