The future of work is currently receiving attention at the highest policy levels. This paper demonstrates the case for a strong gender lens in these debates and makes a clear call for women’s economic empowerment to be at the front and centre of efforts to ensure the gig economy evolves to the benefit of all.

Women’s economic empowerment has gained increasing attention within the global development agenda in recent years, bolstered by the adoption of a range of relevant targets within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. Yet the specific experiences of older women often remain underexplored and unrecognised, leaving them invisible to policy-makers.

There are an estimated 67 million domestic workers globally, 80% of whom are women. Many of them work in low-paid, insecure and exploitative conditions. Technology-focused companies linking households to domestic workers through ‘on-demand’ platforms are attempting to disrupt the traditional sector, claiming to offer rapidly accessible, cheap domestic services to households, and flexible, well-remunerated economic...