Breaking Care Work Stereotypes for Gender-equal Employment Opportunities

There is a correlation between domestic care work and labor legislation stereotypes. As women equally bear childcare and work responsibilities, most labor legislations provide for maternity leave, while employers view the reproductive role as women’s responsibility alone. This exposes women to several forms of gender-based violence and discrimination in the workplace, in an environment of outdated misogynistic stereotypes that compromise their contribution at work.

Women around the world are still getting paid 23% less than their male colleagues, and 18 countries still allow men to prohibit their wives from joining the workforce.[1]

Since its establishment, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has sought to protect women’s reproductive role and prevent it from being an obstacle to their right to work and enjoy sustainable and decent work, empower women to successfully balance between their productive and reproductive roles, and promote gender-equal opportunities and treatment. This has not, however, been an easy task; misogynistic cultures and patriarchal powers continue to impede gender equality across political and economic decision-making levels.

In this paper, we will focus on the correlation between unpaid domestic care work and women’s situation in the workplace through an analytical methodology. We will also identify existing gaps between international labor standards and labor legislations in Arab countries with a focus on the reproductive role. We will then conclude the paper with a set of practical and applicable recommendations that could be discussed with decisionmakers. 

Unpaid Domestic Care Work:

Statistics confirm an increase in the time spent by women on unpaid domestic care work compared to men to reach 1:19, according to a study published by UN Women “The Role of the Care Economy in Promoting Gender Equality: Progress of Women in the Arab States 2020”. The study revealed that women in four countries spend 17 to 34 hours a week doing unpaid care work, while men only spend a few hours per week. The ratio of time spent by women on unpaid care work compared to men is 19:1 in Jorda, 12:1 in Egypt, 7:1 in Palestine, and 6:1 in Tunisia.

This feminization of domestic work poses challenges to women’s access to paid employment opportunities. Furthermore, jobs opportunities available to women are often linked to domestic care work, e.g. preschool teacher, nurse, domestic worker, etc. In fact, more than half of employed women (53%) work in care-related jobs.[2] Women also carry the burden of childcare at home, especially in the Arab region, the only region in the world where no country fulfills the three standards of maternity and paternity leave set forth by the ILO. Maternity and childcare leaves vary by country and most countries do not offer paternity leave at all.[3] 

As a result, not only do women spend most of their time doing unpaid care work, this reality is being used to deprive women of their work rights, including promotion and equal pay. In fact, women are excluded from leadership roles under the pretense that said roles are more suitable for men because they can work late and have better decision-making abilities, while women are restricted by the patriarchal authority of their fathers, brothers, and even mothers, and therefore cannot work late without their consent.

Applicable legislations and labor policies in Arab countries pose significant challenges to gender equality in the workplace, namely the unfair division of gender roles and the unequal burden of domestic care work borne by women. This has led to a larger physical, health and mental burden on women, as well as difficulties in time management, which in turn create obstacles to women’s participation in paid work. There is also a lack of supportive and incentivizing legislations and policies for women, as most existing legislations and policies across Arab countries were drafted using the same traditional and stereotypical approach based on the idea that women are responsible for balancing between domestic responsibilities and work.

The Reproductive Role and Care Work in International Conventions:

Since its establishment in 1919, the International Labour Organization (ILO) considers maternity protection a central issue integrated in its constitution. Two key conventions were issued regarding maternity and care roles:

• Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183);

• Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156) on equality of opportunity and treatment for men and women workers.[4]

Among all Arab countries, only Morocco and Yemen signed Convention No. 183 on April 13^th 2013, while Yemen alone signed Convention No. 156 on March 13^th 1998.[5]

Convention No. 183 protects all women workers during and after pregnancy through clear provisions, prohibits any work that may harm the mother’s or child’s health, and grants mother 14-week maternity leave. The latter was then extended to 18 weeks through a recommendation with cash benefits. According to the Convention, the employer may not terminate the employment of a woman during her pregnancy or maternity leave. A woman is also guaranteed the right to return to the same position or an equivalent position paid at the same rate at the end of her maternity leave.

Convention No. 156, on the other hand, stipulates the employer’s responsibility to enable men and women workers to exercise their work tasks without conflict between their employment and family responsibilities. In this context, the Conventions provides for flexible working hours and childcare leave for both men and women workers. It also highlights the need for competent authorities to provide childcare facilities and services to alleviate the burden of domestic work on persons with family responsibilities, and to carry out the necessary research and studies to identify women’s needs in the workplace and develop women’s services accordingly.

Both conventions reaffirmed that maternity protection and childcare are not the responsibility of women and families alone, but are rather a social responsibility to be borne by the three key players in the labor market: the government, employers’ organizations, and trade unions.[6]

Article 11 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) affirmed women’s right to free choice of profession and employment, the right to promotion, vocational training and social security without any discrimination. It also guaranteed all women’s rights during pregnancy, as well as their right to paid maternity leave and social services to support parents in balancing between family commitments and work responsibilities.[7]

National Legislations in Arab Countries:

Few reforms were implemented to labor legislations in Arabs countries with regards to the reproductive role and care work when compared to relevant international conventions, as illustrated in the table below:[8]

The above table shows that the stipulations of the Egyptian Labor Law are the closest to ILO conventions, while Sudan is remains the farthest, as it does not comply with lactation breaks or childcare leave and maternity leave is short compared to the 18-week period set forth in ILO conventions. A positive development is the implementation of parental leave in the UAE and Oman, although short. Lactation breaks are also short and contradict with the principle of the child’s best interest. All laws also lack provisions on daycare facilities, except for the Egyptian Law which obligates all employers employing one hundred or more female workers at a single location to establish a nursery or contract with a nursery to care for the children of female workers. Establishments located in the same area and employing fewer than one hundred female workers each must collaborate to fulfill this obligation.[9]

The implementation of these legislations creates challenges to working women. In fact, the UAE Labor Law stipulates a fully-paid maternity leave for a period of 45 and half-paid leave for 15 days. Working women in Oman also bear all social protection fund contributions, including those to be paid by the employer, if they take their year-long maternity leave. In Egypt, on the other hand, the Law grants mothers 3 months of paid maternity leave, while Maternity Protection Convention No. 183 provides for cash benefits that ensure that the mother can maintain herself and her child and shall not be less than two-thirds of the mother’s previous earnings. 

The Tunisian Labor Law offers flexible working hours, allowing pregnant working women to take time off without specifying leave duration, provided that her leave is supported by a medical certificate. 

In short, the legislative support offered to women is far from sufficient. Women carry the burden of care work and are often torn between their work commitments and responsibilities towards their children. Some employers also refuse to hire women to escape their commitments towards the reproductive role. In fact, women are often asked about their marital status during job interviews to find out whether they are married or have children. If they do, women are disqualified even when they have the necessary qualifications, just for being women. And when they are, in fact, hired, tasks are usually divided by gender, i.e. a female engineer is not allowed to work in the field and is assigned to administrative work under the pretense that women cannot handle the pressure of field work. 

Many women also have to hide their pregnancies to keep their jobs and apply for regular paid leave at the time of delivery, therefore forfeiting their right to maternity leave to protect their jobs and their chance at a promotion.[10]

Figures published in an ILO report reveal that women, especially in low-income countries, are unequally affected by a lack of opportunities. The employment gap in low-income countries reached 22.8% for women compared to 15.3% for men.

The number of women outside the workforce is also significantly higher than that of men. The report found that family responsibilities could explain the notable difference in employment rates between men and women. In fact, 45.6% of working-age women worldwide were employed in 2024, compared to 69.2% of men.[11]

Conclusion:

Women carry the burden of domestic care work, which affects their public presence. In fact, women are often restricted to this care role and their roles defined in the public space; when they run for representative councils, women are asked to spend more time at home and told that they are not decision-makers, but rather subject to patriarchal authority. When women apply to jobs, they are mainly asked about their marital status, regardless of their qualifications and experience, and their marriage or children are used as an excuse for their rejection.

It is in the interest of employers to feminize domestic work and undervalue this role from a social and material point of view. This negative impact extends to women’s work conditions. The sad reality is that women are paid less than men and are restricted to care-related sectors (school teacher, nurse). Employers take advantage of this situation to justify lower wages to men and women. In fact, women are offered lower wages under the pretense that women’s employment opportunities are limited and that they cannot work at all jobs. As for men, employers justify lower wages by the fact that women are at home doing unpaid domestic and care work, which saves the household relevant expenses. 

In this context, women and men alike must recognize their employer’s exploitation and work together to break traditional cultural and social stereotypes surrounding women, build fair relationships, and divide roles equally among men and women in private as well as in public.

Recommendations:

Based on the above, we are in urgent need to swiftly take measures that achieve gender equality in the workplace, as follows:

• Amend work legislations in Arab countries according to international work standards;

• Strive to change cultural and social frameworks that consolidate gender stereotypes and discrimination;

• Improve services that alleviate the burden of unpaid care work, including the provision of work-friendly, high-quality and affordable daycare facilities;

• Provide service centers for working women, similar to those established in Egypt by the Ministry of Social Solidarity, which offer fully-cooked and half-cooked meals, as well as cleaning, laundry and housekeeping services. 

[1] United Nations Official Website: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/ 

[2] UN Women (2020), The Role of the Care Economy in Promoting Gender Equality: Progress of Women in the Arab States

[3] Ibid.

[4] International Labour Organization Official Website: https://normlex.ilo.org/dyn/nrmlx_en/f?p=1000%3A12000%3A%3A%3A%3A%3A%3A 

[5] Ibid.

[6] International Labour Organization Official Website, Ibid.

[7] Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), 1979: https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-elimination-all-forms-discrimination-against-women 

[8] For more details:

• Egyptian Labor Law No. 14 of 2025

• Executive Regulation of Federal Decree-Law No. (33) of 2021 Regulating Labour Relations

• Law No. (47) of 2021 Concerning the Unified General Rules of Employment in the United Arab Emirates

• Royal Decree No. 53/2023 Issuing the Labor Law in the Sultanate of Oman
• Tunisian Labor Law: https://wrcati.cawtar.org/preview.php?type=law&ID=14(Arabic version)
• Sudan Labor Law of 1997: https://redress.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%85%D9%84-%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%86%D8%A9-1997-%D9%85-.pdf(Arabic version)

[9] Egyptian Labor Law No. 14 of 2025, https://eg.andersen.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Translation-of-Labor-law-No.-14-of-2025.pdf .

[10] In-depth interviews with female trade union NGO members in Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon.

[11] ILO Report: https://www.ilo.org/resource/news/ilo-expects-global-unemployment-drop-slightly-2024-slow-progress-reduce