1. Introduction 3 Understanding women’s economic and social rights 10
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3.4 Maternity and child care
Women are faced with a duality because a large part of their productive and reproductive years are combined, making time demands on them that are not made on men in societies that place care burdens on women (i.e. unpaid care work). Maternity and child care represent one of the structural barriers preventing women from engaging in the labor market on equal footing with men. The ILO Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981, (No. 156)254 and its corresponding Recommendation (No. 165)255 provide a framework for reconciling work and family responsibilities. The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women has recognized that the full integration of women into the formal economy and, in particular, into economic decision-making, means changing the current gender-based division of labor into new economic structures where women and men enjoy equal treatment, pay and power, including sharing of paid and unpaid work.256 The Commission has also urged States and other relevant actors to “take appropriate measures to achieve equal sharing of work and parental responsibilities between women and men, including measures to reconcile care and professional life and emphasize men’s equal responsibilities with respect to household work,” as well as to “design, implement and promote family friendly policies and services, including affordable, accessible and quality care services for children and other dependants, parental and other leave schemes and campaigns to sensitize public opinion and other relevant actors on equal sharing of employment and family responsibilities between women and men.”257 The ILO has also had a special role in protecting maternity: It was during the first International Labour Conference (ILC) in 1919 that the first Convention on maternity protection (Convention No. 3) was adopted.258 This Convention was followed by Convention No. 103 in 1952259 and Convention No.183 in 2000.260 These two Conventions progressively expanded upon the scope and entitlements of maternity protection at work, with the core aim of ensuring that women’s work does not pose risks to the health of the woman and to her pregnancy, and to ensure that women’s reproductive roles do not compromise their economic and employment security.261 The ILO reports that: Globally, 51 per cent, of countries provide a maternity leave period of at least 14 weeks, the standard established by Convention 183. 20 per cent of countries meet or exceed the 18 weeks of leave suggested in Recommendation No. 191. About one-third (35 per cent) of countries provide 12 to 13 weeks of leave – less than the duration specified by Convention No. 183, but consistent with the level set by Conventions No. 3 and 103 of at least 12 weeks of leave. Only 14 per cent of countries provide less than 12 weeks of maternity leave.262 The regions with the highest proportion of countries in conformity with these aspects of Convention No. 183 are Central Asia and Europe, while conformity is particularly low in the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East.263 Out of the 167 countries studied, 97 per cent provided some cash benefits to women during maternity leave.264 UN-Women notes that policies to subsidize or provide childcare by the public sector would help to compensate women for the costs they incur within the home from engaging in paid work. For example, childcare can be provided either through the private sector (and ideally with the provision of public subsidies), or directly by the State as it is done in many countries. UN-Women reports that evidence shows that such policies increase women’s participation in economic activities.265 Providing protection and support to breastfeeding mothers in the workplace is also important. While according to UNICEF and the ILO, in order to ensure a newborn’s good health and nutrition exclusive breastfeeding is recommended during the first six months after childbirth, “meeting these vital nutritional needs of the infant may present a challenge for working mothers, especially in the informal economy and in other types of precarious work in which decent work deficits often abound, including atypical, temporary and short-term contracts.” 266 UNICEF and the ILO report that even when maternity protection or provisions exist, enforcement is lacking, and that women still too often suffer discrimination in hiring, or they risk losing their jobs once hired, due to maternity. Sometimes new mothers cut short their leave for fear of losing their job, and at times they may be forced to put the nutritional health of their child at risk, as when a baby is weaned prematurely.267 For further information on maternity and childcare, please see the background paper prepared by Sharon Offenberger, which addresses these issues in additional detail. Maternity and child care with a focus on economic crisis In the wake of the crisis in Europe, the rights of pregnant women to maternity leave and benefits have been curtailed and discrimination against pregnant women has been documented in at least four countries (Greece, Portugal, Italy and the Czech Republic).268 Some countries have taken positive steps. For example, Canada, Latvia, Hungary, Japan and Spain have all put in place initiatives for women to return to work after maternity leave, encouragements for men to take paternity leave and more accessible childcare services.269 The ILO reports that: Nine countries reported on some form of additional childcare support, mostly belonging to the group of high-income countries, including six where female labour force participation was high (Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Republic of Moldova, Netherlands and the United States). Noticeably, most additional childcare was provided in countries where there was an added worker effect (i.e. an increase in female labour force participation post-crisis), and in a few countries where female participation decreased (the Netherlands and the United States). Moreover, childcare support – a labour intensive sector – acted as a labour demand-side measure through the construction of childcare infrastructure.270 In the Netherlands, the Government introduced a package of family-friendly measures in the 2009 Crisis Pact, which included extension of parental leave from 13 to 26 weeks.271 The Pact also included improvements in the accessibility and quality of childcare as well as a public benefit scheme for self-employed women.272 In the Republic of Korea, the Government has also implemented measures to alleviate women’s disproportionate childcare burden and to encourage women’s labor market participation by expanding childcare benefits: In 2012, all children aged between 0 and 2, all children at the age of five but for children of age between 3 and 4, only those from the households with lower 70% income received the benefit. From 2013, all children regardless of the household income can benefit from childcare benefit. In addition, since the home care allowance was launched in 2009 and included children from the households with income of 100-120 percent of the minimum living standard in 2012. In 2013, this has been enlarged to all children aged 0 to 5, regardless of household income.273 In Luxembourg, the Ministry for Family and Integration in cooperation with the municipalities in 2009 established a childcare voucher-service system (CSA). The CSA is meant to improve the re-integration of parents into the labor market and also ensures high quality services to children. Children from low income families and those at risk of poverty benefit from 25 hours for care per week, free of charge, and for those hours of care exceeding 25 hours per week, they benefit from reduced fees.274 While no ILO standard exists concerning paternity leave, paternity leave is available in a number of countries.275 One interesting example of paternity leave protection can be found in Iceland, where fathers have an “independent, non-transferable leave quota.”276 Even after the economic crisis, mothers and fathers are entitled to five months of non-transferable leave, with an additional two months of shared leave. The reimbursement rate is 80 per cent of the normal salary. These kinds of initiatives are encouraging and ought to be replicated in order to promote a more equitable sharing of family responsibilities. UNICEF and the ILO have noted that: Paid paternity leave is a measure that provides an opportunity for men’s more equal sharing of their infant’s care. When incentives to take such leave exist, these measures have been shown to facilitate greater involvement of fathers in such care, which enhances child development. Evidence shows that extended periods of paternity leave and parental leave available to both men and women have a positive effect in supporting workers with family responsibilities, while enabling fathers to exercise their rights as parents and caregivers. Moreover, these provisions contribute to achieving gender equality, since greater sharing of childcare gives women better access to and sustained participation in the labor force, greater income-earning potential, and more equitable treatment and opportunities including for advancement, all of which contribute to closing the gender pay gap.277 Parental leave – which as opposed to maternity/paternity leave is “a relatively long-term leave available to either parent, allowing them to take care of an infant or young child over a period of time usually following the maternity or paternity leave period” – is also not included in any of the ILO Conventions. However, both Recommendation No. 191278 (accompanying Convention No. 183279 on maternity protection) and Recommendation No. 165280 (accompanying Convention No. 156281 on workers with family responsibilities) do contain provisions on parental leave.282 To guide policy making in this area the ILO has recommended the following ‘Requirements for family-friendly measures to be gender-equality-friendly:’
Some countries also provide tax deductions/credits for costs associated with care. For example, in the United States, the Federal Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit helps working parents or caregivers pay for child care or other dependent care. The amount of credit received is a percentage of care expenses, ranging from 20-35 per cent (the benefit is provided on a sliding scale such that as income increases, the percentage paid decreases).284 In South Africa, the Government had been implementing a Child Support Grant in the form of childcare allowances paid to the main caregiver.285 In Colombia, working mothers receive subsidized childcare.286 In 2006, Croatia adopted its National Policy for the Promotion of Gender Equality, which sets out a number of specific measures promoting the sharing of family responsibilities between women and men and increasing the availability of childcare services.287 The Policy also provides for conducting media campaigns to promote equal sharing of household work and family responsibilities and equal distribution of parental responsibilities for the care of children, including the promotion of use of parental leave by fathers to ensure more active participation of women in the labor force and increase the number of fathers taking parental leave.288 The ILO and UNICEF also report that the Government of Chile has made “considerable efforts to expand childcare services as a means to create better quality jobs and to promote gender equality and national development.” Since 2005, for example, the number of free public nursery places for children aged 3 months to 2 years who are living the poorest areas of Chile increased from 14,400 to 64,000 in 2008. Kindergarten places for children aged 2–4 years, which numbered 84,000 in 2005, we estimated to expand to about 127,000 by 2009.289 |