A/68/293 employment. 30 To this end, States will need to actively consider the constraints faced by unpaid caregivers in the design and implementation of plans, programmes and other measures. Moreover, States must take measures to progressively ensure access to quality and affordable public services, such as facilities for children and dependents, that enable caregivers to undertake paid work. 31 2. Rights at work 34. Under human rights law, all persons have the right to just and favourable conditions of work, including remuneration which provides at a minimum fair wages, equal pay for equal work and a decent living; safe and healthy working conditions; and rest, leisure, reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay. 32 There are complex links between inequality at home and inequality in the workplace, including unequal pay, conditions and rights. 35. The gendered division of unpaid care work is a major reason why women do not enjoy equal rights at work, including fair and equal wages and safe and healthy working conditions. All too often, unpaid care and lack of institutional support for this work traps women between stereotyped gender roles and economic expediency, 33 pushing them into precarious informal employment that is badly paid and involves long hours in difficult conditions. Care responsibilities may also create a barrier to membership of, or active participation in, trade unions for women. As a result, for many women living in poverty with unpaid care responsibilities, work is not empowering but rather a survival necessity. 34 36. States must identify and eliminate the underlying causes of inequality and discrimination in this context, including the causes of pay differentials, and reduce the constraints faced by men and women in reconciling professional and care responsibilities. 35 37. Also relevant — given that unpaid caregivers are disproportionately represented in informal jobs — are State obligations to reduce to the fullest extent possible the number of workers outside the formal economy, apply labour legislation to all workers, and ensure that domestic and agricultural work is properly regulated so that domestic and agricultural workers enjoy the same level of protection as other workers. 36 38. International labour standards also address equal opportunities and equal treatment for men and women workers with family responsibilities. 37 __________________ 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 10/24 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 18, para. 27. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, article 6 in conjunction with article 2 (1); and Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, article 11 (2) (c). International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, article 7. Hania Sholkamy, “How private lives determine work options: reflections on poor women’s employment in Egypt”, in Ayşe Buğra and Yalçin Özkan (eds.), Trajectories of Female Employment in the Mediterranean (London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012). Ibid. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 16, para. 24. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 18, para. 10. ILO Convention No. 156 and corresponding ILO Recommendation No. 165. 13-42271