Although women's work in family farming has increased in Chile, the care tasks they perform represent a barrier to their productive participation. For this reason, the way in which current rural development policies, plans and programs assume care as a relevant issue for the economic-productive insertion of rural women was explored. Through a literature review, it is shown that the implications of care in terms of gender have not been characterized in the policies studied. It is concluded that care is a political issue that can articulate intersectoral strategies for rural development with equity between women and men.