The Urgent Need for Gender-Responsive Social Protection: Bridging the Gap in Access and Coverage
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has released a compelling working paper emphasizing the crucial role of gender-responsive social protection policies in achieving gender equality and ensuring equitable access to essential benefits and services for women worldwide. The paper, titled "Making social protection work for gender equality: What does it look like? How do we get there?", sheds light on the persistent global disparities in social protection coverage, revealing that only 50.1% of women have access to some form of social protection, compared to 54.6% of men. Even more alarming is the gap in comprehensive legal coverage, with only 28.2% of women benefiting from such protection, compared to 39.3% of men. This disparity underscores the urgent need for comprehensive policy reforms that address the specific vulnerabilities and challenges faced by women throughout their lives.
The ILO report highlights the disproportionate impact of global crises, such as climate change, pandemics, and armed conflicts, on women and girls. These crises exacerbate existing inequalities and further marginalize women, emphasizing the critical need for robust social protection systems that provide a safety net and ensure their resilience in the face of adversity. The report argues that social protection policies must move beyond a narrow focus on maternity benefits and tackle the deeper structural barriers that perpetuate gender inequality. These barriers include labor market discrimination, unequal caregiving burdens, and limited access to economic opportunities. By addressing these systemic issues, social protection can play a transformative role in empowering women and promoting their economic and social well-being.
A Life-Cycle Approach to Social Protection: Addressing the Evolving Needs of Women
The ILO advocates for a life-cycle approach to social protection, recognizing that women face unique risks and challenges at different stages of their lives. From childhood to old age, women’s needs and vulnerabilities evolve, requiring tailored interventions that address their specific circumstances. This approach necessitates a comprehensive policy framework that considers the intersectional nature of gender inequality, recognizing how factors such as race, ethnicity, disability, and geographic location compound the challenges faced by women.
The report urges policymakers to move away from fragmented and ad-hoc interventions towards integrated and holistic systems of social protection that provide continuous support throughout women’s lives. This includes strengthening access to quality education, healthcare, childcare, and eldercare services, as well as promoting decent work opportunities and ensuring economic security in old age. By adopting a life-cycle approach, social protection can empower women to exercise their full potential and participate fully in society.
Fiscal Responsibility and Social Protection: Investing in Human Capital and Development
The ILO report challenges the notion that fiscal consolidation requires cuts to social protection programs. It argues that such cuts are counterproductive and undermine the very development goals they are intended to achieve. Instead, the report emphasizes the importance of sound fiscal policies that prioritize investments in social protection, recognizing it as a crucial investment in human capital and a driver of sustainable development.
The report advocates for increased public spending on social protection, financed through progressive taxation and efficient resource allocation. It highlights the positive multiplier effects of social protection, demonstrating that investments in these programs not only improve the lives of individuals and families but also stimulate economic growth and reduce poverty. By prioritizing social protection within fiscal frameworks, governments can create a virtuous cycle of investment, growth, and social well-being.
Integrating Social Protection with Broader Economic and Social Policies: A Holistic Approach to Empowerment
The ILO report emphasizes the importance of integrating social protection with other policy areas, including care policies, employment formalization, and broader economic development strategies. It calls for a holistic approach that recognizes the interconnectedness of different policy domains and the need for synergistic action to achieve gender equality and empower women.
Linking social protection with care policies is crucial to addressing the disproportionate burden of unpaid care work shouldered by women. By investing in affordable and accessible childcare and eldercare services, societies can free up women’s time, enabling them to participate more fully in the labor market and pursue educational and other opportunities. Similarly, promoting employment formalization is essential to extending social protection coverage to women in the informal economy, who are often excluded from traditional social security systems.
Tailoring Interventions to the Needs of Informal Workers: Reaching the Most Vulnerable
The ILO report highlights the specific challenges faced by women in the informal economy, who constitute a significant portion of the global workforce. These women often lack access to social protection and other labor rights, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation and poverty. The report calls for targeted interventions that address the unique needs of informal workers, including flexible and accessible social protection schemes, skills development programs, and measures to promote decent work in the informal economy.
The report emphasizes the importance of participatory approaches that involve informal workers in the design and implementation of social protection programs. By engaging with these workers and their representative organizations, policymakers can ensure that programs are responsive to their needs and priorities. This includes recognizing the diverse forms of work within the informal economy and tailoring interventions accordingly.
Beyond Motherhood and Work: Recognizing Women as Citizens with Full Rights
The ILO report challenges narrow policy views that focus solely on women’s roles as mothers or workers. It emphasizes the importance of recognizing women as full citizens with diverse needs and aspirations beyond their reproductive and productive roles. The report highlights the issue of time poverty, which disproportionately affects women due to their unpaid caregiving responsibilities. It calls for policies that address time poverty by providing adequate support for caregiving and promoting a more equitable distribution of unpaid work between women and men.
The report also stresses the importance of addressing social exclusion and discrimination, which limit women’s opportunities and perpetuate gender inequality. By promoting women’s full participation in all spheres of life – economic, social, and political – social protection can contribute to transformative change that empowers women and advances gender equality. This requires moving beyond narrow policy frameworks and embracing a holistic vision of social protection that recognizes women’s full rights and agency.
