Resources on maternity protection

  1. ILO to publish new report on maternity and paternity at work

    05 May 2014

  2. Working Conditions Laws 2012

    06 February 2014

    This report provides an international comparative legal information on national working conditions legislation and highlights global and regional trends in over 150 countries. The report covers national legislation in three fundamental working conditions: working hours, minimum wages, and maternity protection. The report aims to provide ILO constituents, policymakers, and researchers with comparative legal information on these issues as they consider legislation and policies that impact on workplaces and their workforce.

  3. Cash transfer programmes, poverty reduction and empowerment of women: A comparative analysis

    23 December 2013

    This comparative analysis aims to help the ILO generate new thinking on ways to improve the impact of cash transfer programmes on women's poverty alleviation and economic empowerment. Key findings relate to selected cash transfer programmes from five countries: Brazil, Chile, India, Mexico and South Africa.

  4. © A. Ross/Brand X/Jupiterimages 2022
    Breastfeeding in the workplace: Good for the mother, child, business and society

    05 August 2013

    On the occasion of World Breastfeeding Week (August 1-7), the ILO maternity protection specialist, Laura Addati, explains why breastfeeding in the workplace makes good sense for all parties concerned.

  5. Supporting workers with family responsibilities: connecting child development and the decent work agenda

    08 July 2013

    This working paper presents a series of solutions to the challenging social issues. It builds on the conclusions of “Investing in Child Development and Learning: Ensuring Equity in Decent Work and Sustainable Development,” a forum convened by UNICEF and ILO on 28 February 2012. This paper was used to stimulate dialogue and guide discussion during an Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Ministerial Roundtable in New York on 3 July 2012. The Roundtable examined the policy challenges posed to policy-makers, the social partners (employers’ and workers’ organizations) and other societal actors in proposing policies in support of working families.

  6. “Meeting the needs of my family too”: Maternity protection and work-family measures for domestic workers

    01 July 2013

    This document is part of a series of briefs on issues and approaches to promoting decent work for domestic workers.

  7. Maternity protection: Not just a personal issue

    23 November 2012

    Many countries have ratified ILO conventions on maternity protection, but pregnant women still face workplace discrimination. Marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (November 25), the ILO publishes guidelines on how to implement maternity protection policies.

  8. Good practices and challenges on the Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183) and the Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156): A comparative study

    05 November 2012

    The working paper presents ten national case studies on Conventions No. 183 and 156. It identifies opportunities for stepping up ratification and implementation of these Conventions, as requested in the 2009 International Labour Conference Resolution concerning gender equality at the heart of decent work. An annex contains an annotated bibliography of 150 relevant publications, making this a complete reference tool for policy-makers and practitioners.

  9. Achieving Millennium Development Goal 5 through Decent Work

    01 May 2010

    For the first time in decades, encouraging progress has been made towards Millennium Development Goal 5 (MDG 5), with global maternal mortality rates having fallen by nearly 35 per cent. However, among low-income countries with longstanding high maternal death rates, progress varied considerably and only 23 countries are on track to achieve a 75 per cent decrease in maternal deaths by 2015. Stronger commitments and better cooperation between UN agencies, governments and other development partners are needed to broadly achieve MDG 5.

  10. Maternity at work: A review of national legislation. Second edition

    30 April 2010

    This global report updates the current knowledge of the status and progress of maternity legislation around the world, providing a comprehensive review of national legislative provisions for maternity protection in 167 member States, with a particular focus on how well countries' provisions conform to the ILO Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183), and its accompanying Recommendation (No. 191).