In this resolution, the 3rd ITUC-AP General Council notes that work-life balance is about women and men finding a balance between work life and personal life in pursuit of a career of their choice, succeed in it, and at the same time, have quality family life. The ITUC-AP survey findings show that despite women’s increasing entry into the labour market, the bulk of housework and care work is still predominantly done by women, that the ratification of ILO Conventions No. 156 - Workers with Family Responsibilities and No. 183 - Maternity Protection is very dismal, that 38 percent of respondents comply with ILO standard of at least 14 weeks paid maternity leave and 31 percent have paid paternity leave ranging from 3-15 days, and that the top coping strategies used by women in their balancing struggle are informal child care arrangement, leave employment, and child care centers which are not necessarily the best options but because of its availability.
The General Council calls on ITUC-AP and affiliates to transform the male-dominant labour market including employment structure and working style into gender neutral one with no discrimination in terms of wages, employment opportunity, training/retraining, career building, promotion, to promote good practices of shared family responsibility to tackle family gender inequality, etc.