A new report from the International Labour Organization shows that social dialogue is helping to expand gender equality and care-related rights across several countries in Latin America. Through collective bargaining and innovative workplace practices, businesses and workers are improving policies related to parental leave, flexible work arrangements and support for employees with family responsibilities.
The report, titled Advancing gender equality through social dialogue: Innovative experiences in care and leave policies in Latin America, highlights how companies of different sizes are going beyond legal minimum standards to strengthen maternity and paternity leave, enhance parental leave systems, create lactation rooms and introduce more flexible working arrangements. These measures are emerging from collaboration between employers, workers’ organizations and institutions that aim to address long-standing inequalities in the world of work.
According to the study, closing gender gaps in employment requires tackling structural barriers that limit women’s access to decent jobs. Across Latin America and the Caribbean, about 47 percent of women remain outside the labour market due to care responsibilities. Women also spend significantly more time on unpaid care work than men, contributing billions of hours each week to family care across the region. When these responsibilities fall primarily on women, many are pushed into insecure jobs or forced to interrupt their careers, which can lead to lower incomes, higher levels of informality and continued inequality.
The report draws on research conducted in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico and Uruguay. It shows that combining social dialogue with active engagement from businesses can lead to tangible improvements that extend workers’ rights while encouraging a more balanced distribution of care responsibilities. The findings also underline the important role of governments in establishing a universal base of rights and policies that promote shared care.
Ana Virginia Moreira Gomes, Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the ILO, emphasized that care is both a social right and an essential form of work that supports economic development. She noted that recognizing the value of both paid and unpaid care work is key to building more inclusive labour markets. The report also indicates that when women take active roles in company leadership, trade unions and social dialogue processes, progress toward gender equality becomes more sustainable and impactful.
Meanwhile, Paz Arancibia, Senior Specialist on Gender Equality and Non-Discrimination at the ILO, highlighted that even in settings with limited collective bargaining coverage or high levels of informality, social dialogue can still help expand rights. Such initiatives not only protect workers but also improve productivity, strengthen talent retention and promote the shared responsibility of care.
Overall, the report concludes that progress toward social justice and decent work becomes more achievable when legal frameworks, collective bargaining and company-level practices work together to support fairer distribution of care responsibilities and stronger labour protections.
