1. Child centred social protection: the relevance of gender Naila Kabeer

2. Analytical framework: gender and the structures of constraint
Gender-specific norms, values and beliefs (norms and beliefs about masculinity and femininity) which give rise to:
Socially ascribed asymmetries in the gender division of labour in production and reproduction (care economy)
Socially ascribed inequalities in the distribution of valued resources and opportunities
Imposed gender constraints (active discrimination, unconscious bias, ‘unruly practices’ ) in purportedly gender neutral domains

3. The context….. Globalisation of the economy
The informalisation of work
The feminisation of the labour force

4. Women (and children) as the flexible labour force par excellence….
Official statistics show steady rise in female labour force participation in almost every region of the world (ex. Eastern Europe and Central/Western Asia and MENA)
Rise in most age groups, including married women and women with children. Greatest rise among women in child bearing age
But women (and children) remain in the more casualised and poorly paid segments of labour market
Higher levels of open unemployment

5. Boys make up 53% of child labour force
Rationale for a gender-analytical approach to social protection for working children: gender asymmetries in outcomes
200 million children (5-14) working world wide, a fifth of children in relevant age group
Boys make up 53% of child labour force
Girls make up 57% of children out of school
These asymmetries vary by region

6. Rationale for a gender-analytic approach to social protection for working children: gendered inter-dependencies
Gendered interdependence within the household: health and wellbeing of mother and child; greater substitutability of labour of women and girls in domestic division of labour
Women’s socially ascribed responsibility for child care makes them key actors in the implementation of social protection measures

7. Lessons from practice
Child-related conditional and unconditional cash transfers
School feeding programmes
Subsidised child care

8. Discussion points Conditional or unconditional?
Mobilising mothers: productive and reproductive roles
Maximizing the ‘generative’ potential of social protection: reaping double dividends
The policy context of social protection: the macro-economic framework