International Labor Organization (ILO) Report
According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), investment in care services could create 234 million jobs for women by the year 2035.
The report is published under the title “Care at Work: Investing in Care Leave and Services for a More Gender Equal World of Work”.
This report provides a global analysis of national laws and practices regarding care policies.
Care policies include- maternity protection; Paternity, parental and other care-related leave policies; hair care; and long-term care services.
The main findings associated with care policies are as follows:
- Investing in universal child care and long-term care services will create 299 million jobs by 2035.
- Of these, 78% of the jobs will come from women.
Sectors with potential for employment generation by 2035:
- 96 crore direct jobs in child care, 136 crore direct jobs in long term care, and 67 crore indirect jobs in non-care sectors.
- There are persistent and permanent gaps in care services and policies. It has denied adequate protection and support to millions of workers with family responsibilities.
- Long-term care services are essential to ensure the right to a healthy old age consisting of a dignified and independent life.
- Although maternity leave is a universal human and labor right, it is yet to be fully implemented.
- In 64 countries around the world, the duration of maternity leave is still below the ILO’s mandatory 14-week standard.
- Paternity leave is the key to enabling men’s caring rights and responsibilities. Ironically, nearly two-thirds of able-bodied fathers (1.26 billion men) live in countries that have no right to paternity leave.
Key suggestions of this report:
- Adequate knowledge, data and awareness should be created about this.
- Design and implement care policies and services.
- Care policies and services should be low-cost. There is a need to strengthen representation and social dialogue.
Source – The Hindu
