Care at work: Investing in care leave and services for a more gender equal world of work (report by ILO)
Care at work: Investing in care leave and services for a more gender equal world of work. Based on an ILO legal survey of 185 countries, the report reviews progress made around the world over the past decade while assessing the persisting and significant legal gaps that translate into a lack of protection and support for millions of workers with family responsibilities across the world
It takes the requirements and principles of relevant international labour standards – in particular the ILO Conventions and Recommendations on maternity protection and workers with family responsibilities – as the benchmark.
The report pays attention to the most frequently excluded workers, such as the self-employed, workers in the informal economy, migrants, and adoptive and LGBTQI+ parents. It concludes with a call for action to invest in a transformative package of care policies that is central to the broader international agenda on investing in the care economy – a breakthrough pathway for building a better and more gender equal world of work.
Impact of Covid19 in the labour market
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing gender inequalities in the labour market and the imbalance between women and men regarding housework and family responsibilities.
In this sense, investing in care is central to the ILO Declaration for the Future of Work and the Global call to action for a human-centred recovery from the COVID-19 crisis that is inclusive, sustainable and resilient. Both have been endorsed by governments and employers’ and workers’ organizations from all over the world, and are grounded on international labour standards.
The ILO agenda for investment in the care economy contributes to the Global Alliance for Care and other national and international initiatives and offers an avenue for action and a programmatic platform to scale-up and accelerate progress in investing in care.
