Global Trends in Women’s Access to "Decent Work"
- Document number
- 2198
- Date
- 2009
- Title
- Global Trends in Women’s Access to "Decent Work"
- Author/publisher
- Maria S. Floro, Mieke Meurs
- Availability
- View/save PDF version of this document
- Document type(s)
- Research/Study/Analysis,
- Keywords
- Women. Women's rights; Migrant rights; Migration management; Comprehensive approach to migration; Migration policy; Restrictive migration measures, Irregular Migration, Feminization of migration, Economic migration, Labour migration, Free movement, Undocumented migrants; Undocumented labour;
- Summary
- This occasional paper comes at a time when ILO constituents are set to review and discuss achievements and challenges on the way to gender equality at the International Labour Conference in June 2009. They will set the ILO's agenda for the coming years, against a challenging background of a global fi nancial and economic crisis that has already left millions of workers, men and women alike, unemployed. Hence, the demand for Decent Work for All needs to be upheld ever more strongly. Decent Work is a prerequisite for just globalization and a fair distribution of wealth, which benefi t everyone in the long run. Workers in developing countries need the solidarity and support of those who have been working and living in more secure circumstances in the industrialized countries. As Maria Floro and Mieke Meurs, the authors of this occasional paper argue, it is women in particular who need social rights and protection as they have remained - despite their growing role as income earners - among the most vulnerable. Their access to the labour markets in general and to decent jobs in particular is still limited by the prevalence of multiple discrimination in education, family, politics, culture and religion in many places. They have much to gain from decent employment, social rights, social protection and social dialogue as they continue to raise children and care for the elderly and the infi rm. Awareness of worker's rights and gender equality at work has increased across all regions over the last decades in general; and it is the ILO and its constituents, that have made this possible. Yet much remains to be done. The majority of workers worldwide still lack basic safety nets and health care systems. Economic growth has not trickled down to the poorest, and national policies which strive to smooth out the imbalances have not always been effective or implementation has been insuffi cient. Women are among the fi rst to lose their jobs or continue working in precarious conditions. To reduce those and numerous other imbalances we need more dialogue and participatory approaches. We need to reach consensus in our societies about the direction we want to take and how much social stability and justice we want. Trade unions, women's organizations and civil society organizations like the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung have - alongside the ILO with its tripartite structure - a crucial role to play.
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