Cookson 23

While the relationship between women’s unpaid care work and female labour force participation is implicit in much of the above cited literature, the perspective that a social protection system oriented towards gender equality must account for both of these is sometimes more explicit. In Ecuador, the ‘women-as-carers’ model underpinning social assistance provision in the country may undercut women’s access to the labour market and more robust social security benefits associated with formal employment (). Meanwhile, suggests that not enough has been done to connect the demand for social protection system reform from a gender perspective to an actual policy plan. In response, Rubery proposes a ‘multi-dimensional assessment framework’ to assess social protection and employment system reform by dually accounting for unpaid care and reproductive work and waged work, both of which she argues are ‘central to a gender equality agenda’ (: 520), lest employers be entirely relieved of the responsibility to account for reproduction. Within the perspective that approaches gender and social protection systems through a labour lens, there is also a focus on the gendered dynamics of informality, decent work, and the ‘future of work’. One study that we reviewed examines the role of labour unions in mobilizing around women domestic workers’ access to decent work in Bangladesh, including full access to the national social protection system, inclusive of contributory social security (). The study found that the unions’ focus on national legislation and policy bore some fruit by enabling domestic workers to form collectives, and guaranteeing maternity leave for domestic workers, although implementation of these rights still lags. Others consider rising automation and gig work, finding that while many of the gendered challenges facing social protection systems aren’t novel or unique to ‘future of work’ trends, there is a real risk that these trends exacerbate pre-existing gender inequalities, and as such, policymakers would do well to adapt social protection system design to reflect these (). The third main approach we identified suggests that social protection systems should align with human rights principles. argues that the principles of equality and non-discrimination can be better utilized to overcome wide and persistent coverage gaps for women, including through application to various system components and mechanisms such as personal identification systems and targeting mechanisms. In South Africa, applies a human rights perspective to the conceptualization and implementation of the national social protection system as it interacts with labour policy. Focusing in particular on the concept of non-discrimination, the article finds that gendered and racial discrimination in the labour market perpetuates the exclusion of Black South African women from accessing social protection.