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etention of staff and are essential for maintainingthe quality of care services, with benefits for workersas well as those in their care. 185RecommendationsRising levels of education for women have notconsistently led to narrowing of gender pay gaps,which have also been resistant to equal paylegislation. Additional measures are needed. Toaddress gender inequality in pay, governments,employers and trade unions need to:• Implement well-designed national minimumwage policies, set at an adequate level,which apply to all workers and are rigorouslyimplemented through labour inspection andsanctions• Reverse the systematic undervaluation of paidcare work through the provision of well paid,protected public sector care jobs, by workingwith employers to improve regulation andstandards in the care industry and by investingin professional skills and training for careworkers• Protect the space for, and enable, collectivebargaining over pay and conditions, whichis proven to reduce wage dispersion andinequality• Ensure that equal pay laws are implementedthrough initiatives to encourage public andprivate companies to be more transparent andaccountable for their pay structures.PRIORITY ARENAS TO PROMOTESUBSTANTIVE EQUALITY AT WORKThe vast majority of women workers in developingcountries are employed, or self-employed, ininformal work. Measures to make informalemployment more economically viable andprotected are therefore a priority for tacklingwomen’s socio-economic disadvantage andadvancing substantive equality. This requiresa multi-faceted approach that considers thespecific problems of women in different parts ofthe informal economy, in addition to the broadermeasures outlined in the previous section.Labour market interventions such as minimumwages can be extended and enforced for somewomen informal workers, such as those workingin domestic service or small export-orientedproduction units. These policies may not, however,reach self-employed workers such as streetvendors, who will benefit more from the provisionof safe and sanitary spaces for marketing theirgoods. A different set of measures, again, areneeded to improve women’s rural livelihoods,with a particular focus on enabling secure accessto land, extension services and markets for theirproducts.Policy action should also prioritize creatingdecent work in the public sector as a means toadvance substantive equality for women. Wellremunerated,secure public sector work hasthe potential to generate a double dividend byboosting women’s employment and extending101