Governments and companies worldwide urgently need to improve their care. That is good for the weak, it narrows the gap between men and women and it will also provide just under 300 million jobs by 2035.
That is what the international labor organization ILO says, not coincidentally on the eve of International Women’s Day, after research in 185 countries. The main conclusion: Due to serious and persistent shortcomings in care, hundreds of millions of employees with family responsibilities are insufficiently protected. Like most other EU member states, the Netherlands need not be ashamed, although the ILO would like to see the duration of paternity leave (42 days or six weeks) more closely aligned with that of maternity leave (16 weeks).
But for the time being, 649 million women or three in ten worldwide are a lot worse off than with us. They do not receive the minimum protection that the ILO laid down in a treaty in 2000: at least 14 weeks maternity leave with at least two-thirds of the salary, financed by social security or public funds. Of the 185 countries surveyed, 82 do not meet this standard. Moreover, at the current rate, it will be another 46 years before they too have paid maternity leave – a universal labor and human right. Tunisian women, for example, are expected to return to work after thirty days. In other areas, an even greater catch-up awaits. For example, in only 40 of the countries surveyed, pregnant women or young mothers who are breastfeeding are entitled to protection against dangerous or unhealthy work. Many countries also lack a quiet place at work to breastfeed.
paternity leave
The situation is even worse with paternity leave. More than 1.2 billion men live in a country that does not have this right, and where it does exist it is often extremely short, bringing the global average to nine days. This increases the inequality between men and women, the ILO believes, and the average of nine days is also flattered because quite a few men only take part of their paternity leave, partly to prevent loss of income. In Europe, where Brussels introduced legislation that led to a better work-life balance for parents and carers, the situation is better. Spain (from 15 to 112 days) and Slovakia (from 0 to 197), among others, increased their parental leave considerably. But there are still groups in Europe for whom protection needs to be increased: the self-employed, employees in the informal economy, migrants, adoptive parents and LGBTI parents.
The extensive report does not discuss long-term care and care for the disabled, but the need for this has only increased, according to the labor organization – partly due to corona and the increased life expectancy. “The study finds that services such as homes, community day care centers and home care worldwide remain inaccessible to the vast majority of those who need them,” said the ILO, advocating ‘a new package of care measures based on universal access’. In concrete terms: decent parental leave for men and women, universal childcare and good care for the elderly and disabled, which would also create another 299 million jobs by 2035.
“We need to rethink our health care policy,” said ILO top woman Manuela Tomei, “and design it in such a way that it gives children a good start, supports women to stay in work and prevents families or individuals from falling into poverty. ”
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