A/HRC/40/31 unpaid care work than young men do.12 Due to gendered social norms that view unpaid care work as a female prerogative, young women across different regions, socioeconomic classes and cultures spend an important part of their day on meeting the expectations of their domestic and reproductive roles. This trend starts usually in childhood. How societies address care has far-reaching implications for gender relations, power relations and inequalities, as well as the enjoyment of human rights.13 15. Good quality education remains a key step in increasing women’s opportunities.14 However, it is not just the level of education achieved, but the quality and relevance of education and training that is important. Harmful stereotypes depict women as less interested or capable in certain subjects – for example, maths and science – and textbooks often show men in dominant roles and women in subservient and subordinate roles. 16. In the past several decades, more women than men have pursued higher education in some countries. However, this has not necessarily led to better labour market outcomes for women, as gender-based discriminatory practices influence their recruitment. Even where young women’s education is higher than men’s, they frequently experience discrimination. Evidence from ILO school-to-work transition surveys 15 shows that in a number of countries young women have a more protracted and difficult transition to working life than young men. Women often have more limited access to information channels, technology and job search mechanisms than young men and, importantly, employers in a range of countries reveal a striking preference to hire young men rather than young women for a variety of reasons. 17. There are countries and regions in which unemployment is lower for young women than for young men, this often signals that women do not look for a job but leave the labour market discouraged. When they do find a job, it is often lower paid and in the informal economy, in unprotected low-skills arenas that imply greater job insecurity, as well as lack of access to training, social protection and other resources, making them comparatively more prone to poverty and marginalization. B. Right to work 18. The realization of the right to decent work fosters autonomy and independence in young people, which can pave the way for the realization of other fundamental human rights. Given the obstacles and the discrimination youth face in entering the labour market and in the conditions of work, the normative content of the right to work can effectively guide States’ policymaking to tackle these challenges and promote the rights of youth. 19. International human rights law has progressively recognized that work is not purely a means of generating income. The right to work implies just and favourable work conditions, and full and productive work should be promoted while respecting the fundamental political and economic freedoms of the individual. The development of workers’ capacities for their personal fulfilment should be at the centre of any State’s effort in this area. Work, as a human right, is essential for realizing other human rights, such as the right to an adequate standard of living, and is an inseparable and inherent part of human dignity.16 12 13 14 15 16 4 Gaëlle Ferrant and others, “Unpaid care work: the missing link in the analysis of gender gaps in labour outcomes” (Paris, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Development Centre, 2014). A/68/293. A/HRC/35/11. For more information, please see ILO, “Youth employment: breaking gender barriers for women and men” (Geneva, 2007), and Sara Elder and Sriani Kring, Young and Female – A Double Strike? (Geneva, ILO, 2016). Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 18 (2005) on the right to work.