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especially those on low incomes who would nototherwise be able to afford to take leave. 96 InDeveloped Regions and Central and Eastern Europeand Central Asia, replacement rates of at least twothirds of previous pay are the norm, but such ratesare much less common in developing countries. 97Where applied to paternity and parental leaves,high replacements rates are also important toencourage men to take up their entitlements giventhat they usually earn higher wages than women. 98High rates also send a strong message that carework is socially valued.Second, collective financing for paid parental leavethrough general taxation or social insurance systemsis preferable to financing by individual employers,which may make them reluctant to hire women ofreproductive age. 99 Currently, maternity leave isfunded through social security contributions in 58per cent of countries, by employers in 26 per centand through a mix of government and employercontributions in the remaining countries (see Figure2.6). 100 Employers are responsible for funding leavein most countries in the Middle East and North Africaand South Asia. These are also regions where themajority of countries do not meet the ILO standardof 14 weeks paid maternity leave and wherewomen’s LFPR is particularly low.RecommendationsPolicies to recognize, reduce and redistribute unpaidcare and domestic work are vital to advancingsubstantive equality. Public investments in basicinfrastructure and family-friendly policies broadenwomen’s paid employment options, therebyredressing their socio-economic disadvantage.Promoting more equal sharing of unpaid care anddomestic work between women and men wouldalso help to address stereotypes and change socialnorms, with the potential to transform both labourmarkets and households alike. To move towardssubstantive equality, governments need to:• Invest in basic infrastructure and services (waterand sanitation, health, electricity and cleancook-stoves) to reduce women’s unpaid careand domestic work burdens and liberate time forproductive activities and leisure (see Chapter 3)• Extend coverage of childcare services in line withthe needs of working parents (see Chapter 3)• Work towards comprehensive paid leavesystems, including maternity leave of at least 14weeks, paternity leave and parental leave thatcan be shared between parents• Extend coverage of maternity, paternityand parental leave entitlements to informalworkers, along with measures to ensureimplementation• Ensure that leave is paid at a minimum of twothirds of previous earnings, so that poorerwomen and men can afford to take it• Finance leave through collective mechanismssuch as social security contributions and/orgeneral taxation• Incentivize fathers to take up paternity andparental leave, including through ‘use-or-lose’quotas.ADDRESSING PERVASIVE OCCUPATIONALSEGREGATIONIncreased participation in the labour force does notguarantee a level playing field for women in termsof their labour market outcomes. Gender-basedoccupational segregation—whereby women andmen tend to be employed in different occupations(horizontal segregation) and at differentlevels, grades or positions of seniority (verticalsegregation)—is a key factor in women’s socioeconomicdisadvantage. 101 It is prevalent in bothformal and informal employment.Patterns and consequences ofoccupational segregationOccupational segregation is widespread,persistent and relatively resistant to change evenas countries develop economically. 102 The negativeconsequences of occupational segregation aremultiple and far-reaching, including on the qualityof work women can access and the valuation of89