Written by Ulla Jurviste and Rosamund Shreeves,- December 23, 2016
Finding a suitable balance between work and daily life is a challenge that all workers face. Families are particularly affected. The ability to successfully combine work, family commitments and personal life is important for the well-being of all members in a household. The EU recognises the importance of reconciliation between work, private, and family life and has enacted legislation and developed policy in this area. One of the EU’s policy goals is to stimulate employment (especially among women and older workers) and growth. In this context, one of the main objectives of the Europe 2020 employment strategy is that at least 75% of the population aged 20–64 should be employed by 2020. In many Member States that will entail a significant increase in women’s labour market participation. Women, who disproportionately bear the responsibilities of caring for children and other dependants, have to balance these responsibilities with paid labour, but it is possible to facilitate the transfer of some measure of caring responsibilities onto men, thus advancing gender equality at a more profound level.
UNODC – UN Office of Drugs & Crime
Direct Link to Full 126-Page 2016 Report:
Non-standard employment is not spread evenly across the labour market. Women are more likely to be employed in non-standard jobs, especially in part-time jobs, as compared to men.
By Mariya Aleksynska, ILO Economist, Labour Market Specialist
19 December 2016 - GENEVA (ILO News) – While women make up less than 40 per cent of total employment, globally their share amongst employees working part-time hours is 57 per cent. In 2014, more than half of women worked part-time hours in the Netherlands and Switzerland; similarly high numbers were found in India, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, reflecting the high incidence of underemployment and casual labour in lower-income developing countries.
Women are also more likely to be found in jobs with very short hours (less than 15 hours per week). The recent ILO report on non-standard employment gives some reasons for the disparity between men and women in part-time jobs. These reasons include the traditional role of women as caregivers, different institutional settings, the relative importance of the economic sectors as well as occupational segregation. As the services sector relies more heavily on part-time work and employs more women, its expansion will likely perpetuate the over-representation of women in part-time jobs. Women’s greater presence in jobs with very short hours is also due to their presence in occupations that commonly recruit on an on-call basis. In Italy, 60 per cent of employees in the hotel and restaurant sector are employed on an on-call basis. In the United Kingdom, nearly 30 per cent of all zero-hours contracts are in education, health, public administration, hospitality and retail services.
Direct Link to Full 105-Page 2016 Equality Now Publication:
http://www.equalitynow.org/sites/default/files/NationalityReport_EN.pdf
Child marriage is a widespread phenomenon which endangers the healthy development and wellbeing of girls and young women all over the world. Each year, 15 million girls get married before the age of 18. HER CHOICE aims to build child marriage-free communities where each girl is free to decide if, when and whom she marries. Where this will be HER CHOICE.
HER CHOICE is an alliance of four Netherlands-based organisations: Stichting Kinderpostzegels Nederland, The Hunger Project, International Child Development Initiatives (ICDI) and the University of Amsterdam.
