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‘Family-friendly’ work policies in South Asia must consider informal workers: UNICEF

12 Sep 2021

  • Study finds women mostly engaged in informal work or burdened with caregiving
BY Shahaen Vishak In implementing policies to help caregivers reconcile work and family life, policymakers in South Asia need to extend the reach of these policies beyond the formal workplace, as a considerable proportion of the population is engaged in informal work, while women are most often engaged in unpaid work, such as in households and in shouldering caregiving-related responsibilities, according to a report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The report, titled “Family-friendly policies (FFP) in South Asia”, authored by J. Waidler, B. Sunny, and G. Rees, and published in the Innocenti Working Papers series on 7 September 2021, sought to address the issue of what family-friendly policies should look like in the South Asian context. It took into consideration regional trends such as multi-generational families, family units built around adolescent mothers and sometimes adolescent fathers, a large informal employment sector, and migration for work both within and outside countries, as well as the role of such policies in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Towards this end, the report examined three dimensions of family-friendly policies in the region – the workplace, non contributory social protection (social insurance, and security and social assistance), and child care – and looked at their impacts on families (defined as any group of related people including at least one child below school going age) from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Citing “Women’s work: Mothers, children, and the global child care crisis” by E. Samman, C. Melamed, N. Jones, and T. Bhatkal, the researchers noted that there is growing evidence of a “global childcare crisis”, thus highlighting the need for such family-friendly policies. They also explained how the pandemic has brought about new issues that need to be tackled through family-friendly policies, including difficulties in maintaining a work-life balance, the closure of schools and child care centres, and the maintenance of social distancing among family members. This has further highlighted the level of unpaid care work performed by women, especially with having to continue children’s learning at home, and the issues with unspoken assumptions regarding how family and work life are organised.  Implementing such policies, the report posits, will directly benefit parents and caregivers, while children will receive a higher quality of care and economic security, thereby ultimately benefitting the economy as a whole. Employment-related policies and norms Referencing data from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), it pointed out that South Asia has: a labour force participation rate of just over 50%, the second lowest globally; fewer than a quarter of women in the labour force, the third lowest rate; a majority of the workforce employed informally (88%); a labour force under utilisation rate of around 11%, in the low to mid range; a youth not in employment, education, or training (NEET) rate of over 30%, the second highest; relatively low levels of wage and salaried employment (29%); the highest rate of own account workers (56%); a relatively high level of contributing family workers (13%); and rates of extreme and moderate working poverty of around 9% and 30%, respectively, the second highest combined rate of working poverty. The data also showed that while other countries in the region showed varying increases in female labour force participation over the last 30 years, this figure dropped by around 10 percentage points for India and Sri Lanka from 1990-2019. Here, the researchers noted that social norms prevent women from engaging in paid work, as there is still stigma attached to women working outside homes, which is a common situation across the region. Mentioning F. Najeeb, M. Morales, and G. Lopez-Acevedo’s “Analysing female employment trends in South Asia”, which points out that many educated women do not engage in formal employment, the researchers noted that this could be explained by the lack of social protection and family-friendly policies, the quality of child care infrastructure, and entrenched gender norms. The researchers also noted that, in Sri Lanka’s case, while mothers are given either guaranteed paid maternity leave or paid breastfeeding breaks, and the country’s maternity leave policies have better coverage than regional peers, it lacks specific laws protecting the employment of mothers throughout paid maternity leave. Furthermore, the researchers note that Sri Lanka lacks policies regarding paternity leave whilst also emphasising that local working parents are not guaranteed specific leave to attend to their children’s everyday health-related needs. Considering World Bank data, they also note that Sri Lanka (as well as India and Pakistan) does not legally mandate equal remuneration for work of equal value, while women are unable to work in the same industries as men and cannot work the same night hours as men. Additionally, around eight out of nine workers in the region are engaged in informal work, the researchers found, and thus either lacked access to social protection (including family-friendly benefits) or are only partially protected, meaning that they are more likely to work in unhealthy conditions, receive lower and more volatile salaries, and lack bargaining power to claim basic rights. Moreover, substantial gender differences were seen in the nature of informal employment, with women typically engaged in home-based and domestic work settings. Social protection and assistance The report noted that non-contributory social protection programmes, such as those providing benefits to pregnant and lactating mothers, as well as caregivers with young children, may not be attached to formal employment contracts, but can nevertheless aid caregivers by compensating for losses in earnings due to pregnancy or having to raise young children. In this regard, it looked at a list of programmes implemented in the region as compiled by P. Arruda, Y. Markhof, I. Franciscon, W. Silva, and C. Bilo in an “Overview of non-contributory social protection programmes in South Asia from a child and equity perspective”. It was noted that Sri Lanka is among five other countries that provide such benefits to pregnant and lactating mothers, through its National Supplementary Food Programme or “Thriposha”, while the Nutritional Allowance for Pregnant and Lactating Mothers (NAPLM) Scheme aids mothers from the third month of pregnancy till the child is four months old. The latter Scheme, it further pointed out, is the only one of its kind among regional peers that is universal in practice and able to reach almost all pregnant mothers, which the researchers attributed to the high rates of prenatal care and skilled delivery (almost 100%), as pregnant women can apply for the programme when they visit their health facility and confirm that they are pregnant. Programmes in other nations were seen to have lower coverage due to issues in their design and implementation. However, the report found that the NAPLM Scheme, as well as similar programmes in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal, were not generous enough to cover the cost of delivery or assure an adequate diet for mothers and their babies, with benefits being below or only slightly above the monthly extreme poverty line per capita. In terms of programmes that directly or indirectly benefit families with children, the report listed one in India (the Public Distribution System), one in Nepal (the Child Grant programme), one in the Maldives (Single Parent Allowance), one in Pakistan (the Benazir Income Support Programme), and one in Sri Lanka (the Samurdhi programme, which provides cash transfers to poor families). However, with the exception of India’s Public Distribution System, various issues in coverage were noted in all these programmes, with Sri Lanka’s Samurdhi programme suffering from high exclusion errors and many poor families not receiving the benefit, according to the UNICEF working paper “Investing in the future: A universal benefit for Sri Lanka’s children”. A low level of benefit adequacy was also noted in the three programmes in Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, thus explaining why they did not result in a greater impact, although the study on “Welfare grants and their impact on child health: The case of Sri Lanka” by R. Himaz found certain improvements in short-term and long-term nutrition indicators through the Samurdhi programme. Post Covid-19 scenario The pandemic’s impact has been amplified in the case of informal workers, due to their low wages and average savings, and the cessation of their work during lockdowns, leaving them even more vulnerable. In this regard, the report noted that certain South Asian countries have either introduced new emergency programmes, or expanded existing social protection schemes – as is the case in Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka. It was noted that Pakistan and Sri Lanka took the most comprehensive measures, allocating 0.41% and 0.33% of the gross domestic product (GDP), respectively, for Covid-19 relief, according to UNICEF data.  Sri Lanka’s efforts towards this end saw those on the waiting list of the Samurdhi, Senior Citizens, and Disability Allowances being incorporated into the schemes, while an additional transfer of Rs. 5,000 was provided to recipients for two months, and more than 2.5 million individuals in total were reached through this measure. Similar expansions occurred with the respective programmes in India and Pakistan. However, the researchers added that the severity and duration of the pandemic meant that emergency programmes would need to significantly increase payments or be extended beyond just a few months to properly compensate for reduced household incomes.  They also noted that since such programmes target only the most vulnerable and exclude working households or households in urban areas, universal benefits would prove a better option when such crises affect a majority of the population, as stated by Save the Children’s “A foundation to end child poverty: How universal child benefits can build a fairer, more inclusive, and resilient future”. It was noted that the “Universal child benefits: Policy issues and options” study by UNICEF and the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) found that spending 1% of the GDP on universal child benefits could lead to a 20% reduction in poverty for the whole population. How this happens is, as found in studies by both the ILO and Save the Children, a universal child benefit scheme would encourage parents to register births and foster a stronger social contract, in turn improving the willingness to pay taxes, thus increasing government revenues and thereby allowing for the further expansion of benefits. Child care  As mentioned, in South Asia, women disproportionately bear much of the burden of the conflict between earning and caregiving, and they are most often the sole providers of unpaid care services within households. Moreover, the pandemic has further exacerbated this situation. Thus, the researchers noted that women are often unable to engage in formal work due to having to shoulder caregiving-related burdens, opting instead for informal work due to the flexibility afforded.  Thus, citing “Gender equality, child development and job creation: How to reap the ‘triple dividend’ from early childhood education and care services” by UN Women, it was noted that the provision of high-quality child care could ensure a foundation for early childhood development and a safe space for children, while enabling mothers to engage in work they desire, in turn contributing to their economic empowerment and the wellbeing of families.  Noting that research by the ILO indicated low levels of enrolment in early childhood education programmes across the South Asian region (with the exception of the Maldives), the report cited Sri Lankan Government data from 2016 to highlight that such enrolment was especially low in Sri Lanka’s rural and estate sectors (52% and 56%, respectively), which points to location-based access inequities. The same data showed that a majority of child care providers were managed by non-state entities (70% by private firms and 10% by religious or non-governmental organisations), and were fee levying, thus hindering access for poor households. Sri Lanka, as well as Bhutan, Nepal, and the Maldives, according to data from a 2019 UN study, saw 20%-40% of households being female led. Thus, a significant proportion of women are compelled to undertake unpaid child care provision. The report pointed out that female workers in Sri Lanka’s formal sectors are covered under Section 12A of the Maternity Benefits Ordinance No. 32 of 1939 as amended, which states: “The employer of more than a prescribed number of women workers in any trade shall establish and maintain a crèche (nursery where babies and young children are cared for during the working day) for children five years of age, and shall allow any such worker who has in her care, a child or children under five years of age, to leave such child or children in such creche during the hours when she is required to work for the employer.” Recommendations The two key patterns identified across the region were the high level of informal employment and low level of female labour force participation, while women engaged in formal employment were also seen as affected by obstacles in balancing work and family life. The report thus pointed out that family-friendly policies should provide opportunities and remove barriers to people moving into employment, and from informal to formal employment, while also supporting people who cannot make these transitions. To achieve this, it was first recommended that parents and other caregivers in all households receive support, irrespective of their work status, by improving coverage and access to social protection, especially for pregnant and lactating mothers. This could be aided by gradually expanding age eligibility, or by offering benefits to the entire eligible population in the most deprived areas and then extending coverage to less vulnerable regions. Quality early childhood care services should also be made available to relieve the pressure on parents. To help people, especially women, to move into employment, it was recommended that educational and training opportunities be provided, while tackling transportation issues, sexual harassment, and social norms that deter them from engaging in work outside the home.  Female workers in both the informal and formal sectors should receive some form of maternity benefit or financial support immediately before and after the birth of a child, while some form of paternity leave should be granted to fathers, and increased flexibility should be introduced for both parents to be able to attend to children with specific needs. Improving access to quality child care facilities is another key component in this regard. To encourage the transition from informal to formal employment, it was noted that systems need to avoid creating disincentives for formal employment and gender discrimination. A gradual transition out of employer liability systems, which places all the burden on employers and reduces the incentives to hire women of reproductive age, was recommended, along with the removal of all workplace laws and practices that discriminate on the basis of gender. Finally, it was noted that formal workers also need to benefit from legislation that meets international standards, such as ILO standards for maternity protections, along with more inspections to ensure compliance where such standards are in place. The management of workplace benefits should also be attended to, possibly with more government involvement to provide or administer such benefits, while access to these should not vary based on the field of employment or the size of the employing company. Putting these into practice, the report added, will also require better data collection regarding key statistics, as well as impact evaluation of the relevant programmes.  Thus, the report concluded, governments, employers, and civil society elements can each play their part for a holistic approach towards designing family-friendly policies that consider all parents, all types of work, and institutions and stakeholders at different levels, and with various responsibilities.  


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