This literature review addresses the problem of care from the perspective of the care economy; this term is used to define the set of activities required for social reproduction: between these food processing, house cleaning, child care, elderly and people on disability status. Another aspect to consider is that most of the housework is done by women and this has limited its development capacity and its foray into the labor market. Also, with reference to theoretical contribution made by some economists, it is evident that the division of labor was made taking into account the corporeal characteristics of female and male gender. Additionally, it explains the legal part that governs in Colombia on the issue of the care economy and how contributes unpaid work the gross domestic product (PIB). This study is prepared by the National Statistics Department (DANE), through the national survey of uses of time. At the end of the study, is analyzed the situation of the older persons in Colombia, showing that this population has tripled in recent years and the economically active population has decreased