Mexico City Deputies Unanimously Approve Care System Law

ByManuel Cosme

This article by Manuel Cosme originally appeared in the May 26, 2026 edition of El Sol de México.

The Congress of Mexico City unanimously approved, with 64 votes in favour, a law that creates a local care system, through which it lays the foundations for articulating actions aimed at attending to people who require care as well as those who provide it.

With this regulation, the nation’s capital becomes the first city in Mexico with a legal framework to recognize, redistribute, and reduce care work.

Víctor Varela, president of the Commission on Inclusion, Social Welfare and Enforceability of Rights, asked legislators to vote in favour of the opinion on the initiative sent on the subject by Clara Brugada Molina, head of Government of Mexico City, since the opinions and proposals of civil organizations , feminist collectives, parliamentary groups, caregivers and people who are cared for were included.

Speaking from the podium, the Morena legislator proposed reducing and redistributing this type of work, stating: “As men, we must assume this responsibility, removing gender roles from care work. It has nothing to do with sexual orientation or gender, but rather with a concrete activity like caregiving.”

During the discussion of the ruling, 18 legislators explained their vote in favour; Xóchitl Bravo, parliamentary coordinator of Morena, stated that its approval is an act of social justice, equality, and recognition for millions of people who for decades sustained daily life through the invisible work of care.

Liz Salgado, a legislator from the National Action Party , acknowledged that the committees included proposals from the PAN, such as autonomy, progressivity, territorial coverage, continuity across administrations, and evaluation and monitoring mechanisms.

The application of the law, she noted, requires setting investment and budget targets, evaluation indicators, transparency, accountability, cross-cutting nature and coordination among participating entities.

Royfid Torres, parliamentary coordinator of Movimiento Ciudadano, agreed with the PAN legislator that much remains to be done, such as providing care for people with disabilities and allocating a sufficient budget for infrastructure so that the law can be implemented.

On behalf of the Green Party of Mexico, Representative Guadalupe Morales stated that the approval of the ruling gives rise to a new social pact, which recognizes care as the work that sustains life, that allows everything else to exist, and that it is not possible to make it invisible or free.

The approved ruling shapes and strengthens care centers, proposes institutional coordination, territorial planning of services, and the professionalization of caregivers.

It acknowledges that more than three million people in Mexico City require care due to life stage, disability, or dependency, and that unpaid work in this area is equivalent to approximately 12 percent of the Gross Domestic Product.