1 Introduction¹

In the past century, laws and justice have played a crucial role in advancing gender equality in the world of work. However, despite recent progress in equality legislation and in women’s educational attainment, the dividends of such progress have not fully translated into substantial closing of longstanding gender gaps at work. This is evident in the gender gaps relating to key labour market indicators, which have not narrowed in any meaningful way for more than 20 years. Such gender gaps further widen when gender intersects with other personal characteristics, such as race, ethnicity, nationality, sexual identity, age, disability or hiv status.² This chapter provides an overview of longstanding structural barriers that have confined women to playing a supporting role in economies and labour markets designed by and for men. It examines how the covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated an already inequitable situation reversing, perhaps for many years to come, some of the progress towards gender equality. It gives an account of how women have historically fared in the world of work, highlighting the role played by the International Labour Organization (ilo) in shaping a rights agenda for women at work. It concludes with a call for a quantum leap for gender equality in the world of work through concrete policy recommendations.

2 Endemic Gender Gaps in the Labour Market: Before the covid-19 Pandemic

Over the past 27 years, the gender employment gap has shrunk by less than two percentage points. Both women’s and men’s employment rates have declined globally, but men’s have declined at a faster rate. In 2018, 1.3 billion women were in employment compared to 2.0 billion men, which means that there were still more than 700 million fewer women in employment than men. In other words, women were still 26.0 percentage points less likely to be employed than men. This is despite the fact that gross enrolment ratios for secondary and tertiary education have increased for both women and men and gender gaps in enrolment rates had almost closed in 2017. However, 21.2 per cent of youth are neither in employment nor in education or training, and a high proportion of those (69.1 per cent) are women.³

Despite improvements in female educational attainment, occupational and sectoral segregation remains deeply entrenched globally, with women still clustered in low-paid jobs, with poor working conditions and limited prospects for career advancement. Although the expansion of new sectors, such as technology and renewable energy, provides an opportunity to increase women’s employment in male-dominated areas, increased participation in the labour force does not automatically result in equal opportunities and treatment for women. The persistence of occupational segregation stems from a combination of factors including gender differences in the fields of study, training and experience; multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination; deeply rooted social norms; and the unequal distribution of unpaid care and domestic work with women performing most of it. Stereotypes about gender roles and perceived differences in aptitudes also contribute to occupational segregation.⁴

Women are more exposed than men to informal employment in over 90 per cent of sub-Saharan African countries, 89 per cent of countries in Southern Asia and almost 75 per cent of Latin American countries.⁵ In addition, women are often found in the occupations that are the most vulnerable to decent work deficits, such as domestic work and other home-based occupations. Such occupations are frequently undervalued because they mirror work that has traditionally been carried out by women in the home without pay, or simply because it is work mainly performed by women. Discrimination on grounds that intersect with sex or gender, further exacerbates the likelihood of women experiencing unfavourable working conditions and might increase informality rates.⁶ Overall, women are more likely to be employed in non-standard forms of employment or at the sharp end of the supply chain. While these arrangements may provide women with an opportunity to be in the labour market, job insecurity, low pay and lack of access to social protection continue to fuel economic insecurity and structural discrimination and abuse.⁷

Women are also under-represented in managerial and leadership positions. Globally, in 2020, only 28.3 per cent of managers and leaders were women, a figure that has changed very little over the past 27 years.⁸ However, even though few women make it to the top, those who do, get there faster than men. Across the world, women managers and leaders are almost one year younger than men. Women managers are also more likely to have a higher level of education than men managers. Globally, 44.3 per cent of women managers have an advanced university degree compared with 38.3 per cent of men managers.⁹

Overall, women working in the same occupation as men are systematically paid less, even if their educational levels equal or exceed those of their male counterparts. The global gender wage gap is still an average of 20 per cent throughout the world.¹⁰ Women experience further pay penalties when they belong to indigenous communities, ethnic minorities or racialised groups, are migrants or persons with disabilities.¹¹ Furthermore, women continue to perform the lion’s share of unpaid care work. Worldwide, 606 million women of working age (or 21.7 per cent) are engaged full-time in unpaid care work, compared to 41 million men (or 1.5 per cent). Between 1997 and 2012, the time that women devoted to housework and caregiving diminished by only 15 minutes per day, whereas for men it increased by just eight minutes per day. At this pace, it is estimated that the gender gap in time spent doing unpaid care work will take many more generations to close.

Unpaid care work and a lack of social infrastructure is also one of the main reasons why women are outside the labour force, or do not progress in the labour market at the same pace as men do.¹² A positive development in this context is Resolution i, adopted in 2013 by the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (icls). This resolution defines unpaid caregiving services and unpaid domestic services for household and family members as ‘own-use provision of services’. It also makes it clear that work can be performed in any kind of economic unit, including households and communities, and can also include services that are not provided in the context of market transactions. In 2018, the 20th icls went one step further in its Resolution i by providing a new International Classification of Status at Work (ICSaW-18), which covers all jobs and work activities in all forms of work, including own-use provision of services.¹³ Such progress makes the amount of unpaid care work performed by women and men visible and measurable. The 19th and 20th icls resolutions expand the boundaries of work beyond pure market transactions, recognising unpaid care work as work and opening the door to a future where social and economic progress is measured by more than just a country’s gross domestic product (gdp).¹⁴

Critically important is the fact that mothers, particularly those with young children, experience systemic disadvantage in the workplace. This results in larger pay gaps and substantially lower retirement savings or pension contributions. For instance, working mothers are less likely to be in employment than women without children or fathers with young children. They are also less likely to reach managerial and leadership positions compared with their male counterparts. This is due to difficulties in balancing work and family responsibilities. However, where men share unpaid care work more equally with women, more women are found in managerial positions.¹⁵

Discriminatory laws restricting women’s rights at work and discriminatory practices including pregnancy discrimination, unfair treatment, abuse, violence and harassment remain among the top challenges facing women in the world of work, especially young women and women from further marginalised populations.¹⁶ Discrimination, violence and harassment at work have a detrimental impact on women’s health and well-being, their participation in employment and the quality of their work. Tackling this issue is essential both from a human rights perspective and for a gender-equal future of work, with decent work for all. There is a growing number of laws addressing violence and harassment, including gender-based violence and harassment, but they are often limited in their coverage and application. Moreover, these laws often have not sufficiently taken into account new and emerging forms of ict-facilitated violence and harassment against women in the workplace, or the impact of domestic violence in the world of work.¹⁷

3 The covid-19 Pandemic: Undoing Already Too Slow Progress

Almost two years into the covid-19 pandemic, there is no question that covid-19 has dramatically widened existing gender inequalities relating to gender division of labour and economic stability. The accompanying social and economic crises have further exacerbated gender gaps in the labour market. Between 2019 and 2020, women’s employment declined globally by 3.6 per cent, representing a decrease of 47 million jobs, whereas men’s employment declined by 2.9 per cent, or 57 million jobs. Not all regions have been impacted in the same way. The region of the Americas experienced the greatest reduction in women’s employment as a result of the pandemic (−8.9 per cent). The second biggest drop in the number of employed women was observed in Asia and the Pacific. Between 2019 and 2020, women’s employment declined by 3.3 per cent and men’s by 2.9 per cent.¹⁸

In 2021, the number of employed women globally was still 20 million less than in 2019, while the number of men in employment was 10 million less than in 2019.¹⁹ Young people, especially young women, continue to face greater employment shortfall. This gap between women and men in the world of work is likely to persist into the near to medium term with young women being the most affected and facing the biggest shortfall relative to the pre-crisis situation in 2019.²⁰

The covid-19 pandemic has also brought to the surface wide gender gaps in the quality of employment, mainly for the many women working in sectors and occupations with high proportions of women, and in the informal economy. Of the 740 million women working in the informal economy,²¹ 42 per cent were in sectors at high risk of job-losses and reductions in working hours,²² compared to 32 per cent of men.²³ On the other hand, during the pandemic, 96 million women have continued to do essential work in the health and social work sector as well as in other essential occupations, often putting their lives at risk and facing increased working hours at work and at home.²⁴ For most women and men employed either in high-risk sectors or in essential work, the covid-19 pandemic has increased care demands within households on an unprecedented scale. New evidence confirms that women continue to shoulder most of the unpaid care work. This has led the women who remained in employment to cut down on paid working hours or to extend their total daily working hours (paid and unpaid) to unsustainable levels.²⁵

The covid-19 pandemic has hit those at the bottom of the wage scale harder than those at the top and women are disproportionately represented in low-paid jobs. covid-19 has unsettled the livelihoods of women working in the informal economy, as many informal businesses were forced to close temporarily or permanently. This has led to severe loss of income for women without recourse to social security measures and an increased risk of falling further into poverty. Domestic workers, many of whom work informally, were even more exposed to significant decent work deficits in respect of working hours, wages, social security, occupational safety and health, including violence and harassment.²⁶

4 More than a Century of Women’s Rights at Work: But Still a Long Way to Go

Persisting gender gaps in the labour market and the regressing position of women in the world of work as a result of the covid-19 pandemic prompt a reflection on the historical efforts made to advance gender equality at work over the past century. The situation also highlights the need to focus better and act faster to ensure a more equal world of work where women in all their diversity enjoy equal opportunities and treatment.

Undoubtedly, women’s increased involvement in the paid economy was the one of the most significant changes in labour markets during the past century. The two World Wars, in particular the second one, were the major catalyst for women’s increased entry into the labour market. However, for many women from less privileged socio-economic backgrounds, race, colour, national extraction or social origin, participation in the labour market was an economic imperative or a result of discriminatory practices that came much earlier than this, including in many parts of the world with still largely agrarian economies and societies. In all cases, women’s role and participation in the world of work have been conceived according to a structure of the world of work designed by men for men, and women had to fit in.²⁷

Historically, the treatment of women’s rights at work revolved around the debate between ‘protectionism’ and ‘equal rights for women’. Protectionists claimed that women workers required special measures to protect their health and safety and, most importantly, their reproductive health and their role as caregivers. On the other hand, proponents of equal rights contended that establishing special protective measures for women detracted from the overall aims of labour legislation to protect all workers, including men.²⁸

In the first deliberations of the ilo,²⁹ adult women were protected against arduous working conditions on account of their reproductive role and traditional family responsibilities. The first Maternity Protection Convention, 1919 (No. 3) and the Night Work (Women) Convention, 1919 (No. 4), are two examples.³⁰ These protective measures were adopted despite the opposition of certain factions of the women’s movements, which deemed these measures discriminatory and called for a more general protection of workers’ health, irrespective of their sex.³¹

It took some time for gender justice to prevail over the protectionist approach and the increasing activism of women’s organisations was instrumental in achieving this result.³² This shift was also reflected in the adoption of new international labour standards promoting equality and non-discrimination at work. Combating discrimination and ensuring equality of opportunity and treatment are essential to decent work, and success on this front has resonated well beyond the workplace. In 1951, the ilo adopted the Equal Remuneration Convention (No. 100), followed by the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), aimed at preventing discrimination in employment and occupation on the grounds of race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin, in both the public and private sectors. This Convention requires the elimination not only of direct discrimination based on one or more prohibited grounds, but also of more subtle and less visible forms of discrimination (indirect discrimination) and discriminatory-based harassment.³³ It also requires that the underlying causes of inequalities that result from deeply entrenched discrimination, complex social patterns, institutional structures, policies and legal constructs, be addressed, including through the implementation of proactive measures, with the aim of achieving substantive equality.³⁴ This can only be realised through the effective participation and involvement of women from all spheres and backgrounds.

In the same period, the ilo also adopted other relevant international labour standards for the promotion of women’s employment, such as the Social Security Convention, 1952 (No. 102) and the Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), aimed at ensuring full and productive employment and freedom of choice of employment and the promotion of equality of opportunity for all workers.³⁵

Alive to the demands of civil rights movements and women’s liberation movements, the ilo adopted the Declaration on Equality of Opportunity and Treatment for Women Workers (1975).³⁶ This Declaration set forth a number of principles as targets to be achieved progressively in relation to the integration of women in economic life. The Declaration reflected the continuing shift away from protectionism. It acknowledged that women’s status in the world of work cannot be changed without also changing the role of men in society and in the family and therefore reflecting on the different power relationships that perpetuate discrimination. It also recognised the need to enable women to exercise their right to gainful employment, regardless of family situation. It declared that ‘all forms of discrimination on the grounds of sex which deny or restrict [equality of opportunity and treatment for all workers] are unacceptable and must be eliminated’. A reflection of the times during which it was adopted, but perhaps still relevant to some of the debates of today, the Declaration calls for particular attention to be devoted to ‘the situation of women in countries under foreign domination or subject to the practices of apartheid’.³⁷

From the 1980s onwards, the ilo adopted further standards to advance a gender-equal approach to work–family reconciliation. In particular, the Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156) finally recognised that family responsibilities not only lie on women’s shoulders, but are shared with men and the state. The Convention requires governments to ensure that persons with family responsibilities are not subjected to discrimination on account of those responsibilities, including in access to or progression within employment. Governments are also required to develop provisions such as childcare and family services to facilitate a good work–life balance. The most recent ilo standard on maternity protection, the Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183), has sought to prevent maternity-based discrimination by, inter alia, shifting the onus of financing income replacement for mothers away from employers to social insurance or general taxation, making this a collective responsibility for the society.³⁸

Although it recognises that gender-based occupational segregation is a form of discrimination, the ilo has also adopted standards to respond to the specific needs and situations of segments of the labour force that are female dominated.³⁹ These include the Home Work Convention, 1996 (No. 177) and the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189). These conventions afforded home-based and domestic workers equality of treatment in employment with other workers, including the right to organise and bargain collectively. Similarly, the Part-Time Work Convention, 1994 (No. 175) provides for equality of treatment for part-time workers.

Most recently, in 2019, the Violence and Harassment Convention (No. 190) and its accompanying Recommendation (No. 206) were adopted, addressing one of the most pernicious and persistent barriers preventing women from accessing, remaining and advancing in the labour market. The Convention represents a game changer in fighting against discrimination and inequality in the world of work, by making the invisible visible and acknowledging the pervasiveness and unacceptability of violence and harassment. For the first time, violence and harassment in the world of work, which includes gender-based violence and harassment, is defined, and a common framework for action is provided. The Convention acknowledges that to be able to fully prevent and eradicate gender-based violence and harassment in the world of work, it is necessary to address its underlying causes, such as multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, gender stereotypes and unequal gender-based power relations.⁴⁰ In this regard, the Convention calls on governments to adopt legislation ensuring the right to equality and non-discrimination in employment and occupation for all, and to develop and implement an inclusive, integrated and gender-responsive approach for the prevention and elimination of violence and harassment in the world of work. Moreover, by requiring that workplace risk assessments should take into account factors such as social and cultural norms that increase the likelihood of gender-based violence and harassment, it provides a concrete and effective entry point to change attitudes. Finally, the Convention also recognises, for the first time, domestic violence as an element that affects employment, as well as the health and safety of everyone in the world of work and calls on governments to take measures to mitigate its effects at work.

All these achievements have undoubtedly contributed towards advancing gender equality at work. However, as we have seen, the current landscape of women’s position in the labour market remains uneven and unsatisfactory, and it is imperative to accelerate action. Unless the present trajectory is changed and policy choices are made that put gender equality at their core, the situation is likely to deteriorate further as work becomes more fragmented and the future remains uncertain. A quantum leap for gender equality at work is urgently needed. This has been further reaffirmed in the 2019 ilo Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work and in the most recent 2021 Global call to action for a human-centred recovery from the covid-19 crisis that is inclusive, sustainable and resilient.⁴¹

5 At the Crossroads of Gender Equality in the World of Work: The Right Path to Gender Equality

Sluggish progress, stagnation and even setbacks in women’s employment outcomes should no longer be given room in the societies and economies of the present and the future. Economic transformation and growth must be equitably distributed, and be of equal benefit to women in all their diversity. The world of work is in the midst of profound and rapid changes. There is a need to recognise the full range of opportunities and risks of these changes and to have an explicit agenda for the achievement of equality and equity for all women and men.⁴²

Cognisant of these persistent gaps in the labour market and of the new challenges, including digitalisation, migration, demographic shifts and climate change, the ilo has in recent years made it clear that immediate bolder actions are needed. ‘If we fail to deliver on gender equality, the attainment of decent work for all will be illusory’.⁴³ The ilo Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work, adopted in 2019 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the ilo, specifically called for achieving gender equality at work through a transformative agenda. This includes the recognition and redistribution of care work, both paid and unpaid, as one of its key pillars as well as the need to ensure equal opportunities, equal participation and equal treatment for all women.⁴⁴

In 2021, in its Resolution concerning a global call to action for a human-centred recovery from the covid-19 crisis that is inclusive, sustainable and resilient, the ilo re-asserted the need to bring gender equality to the core of the covid-19 recovery effort.⁴⁵ Recognizing that women are not a homogeneous group, the ilo 2021 Resolution goes a step further and calls for the adoption of a transformative agenda for equality, diversity and inclusion to be executed across the public and private sectors. This agenda aims at eliminating violence and harassment in the world of work and discrimination on all grounds. It also takes into account the specific circumstances and vulnerabilities of migrants, indigenous and tribal peoples, people of African descent, ethnic minorities, older persons, persons with disabilities and persons living with hiv/aids.⁴⁶

Rethinking the economy post-covid-19 should be based on forward-looking gender-sound and transformative multi-systems decisions with adequate allocations in national budgets to respond to all women’s needs and priorities. The allocations need to include women in the informal economy and those who face multiple or intersecting forms of discrimination, who are often left at the margins of the economy and our societies. Gender-responsive and social budgeting can be an important tool for more effectively prioritising gender equality and diversity in the overall set of national policies. Data disaggregated by sex and other characteristics, such as race, indigeneity, disability, and sexual orientation and gender identity status, will be essential to design policies and monitor outcomes to establish what works for women. Urgently needed interventions are discussed the following subsections.

6 Conclusions: A Quantum Leap for Gender Equality at Work and Beyond

The right path to equality at work for all women, irrespective of their personal characteristics, is in front of us, but only fair and forward-looking choices and actions will determine whether the world of work will be a more equal place for women and, as a consequence, for men too. This will require an ecosystem of reinforcing measures and an unwavering commitment to equality for all women, which definitely should encompass challenging and addressing the confluence of different power relationships which compound disadvantage.

To move from potential to reality, a human-centred agenda offers the best way to achieve the transformative and multi-systems changes needed in this new era. Women have always made an important contribution to the economy and to societies. All these contributions need to be acknowledged and valued, and solutions that will allow women to fully enjoy equal opportunities and treatment at work need to be consciously accelerated with women leading the way. covid-19 has been a reminder that we must do better because humanity is at its best when gender equality is at its core. A giant leap for gender equality at work and at home is of benefit to all.