Some of this work is paid, recognized, counted and protected by labour contracts and legislation. Much of women's work is informal, poorly paid, or unpaid, unrecognized, and unprotected by labour legislation.
Women usually take responsibility for unpaid household work and the nurturing work of child rearing.
Thus, work includes income-generating activities in the recognized labour market and in the informal sector, as well as unpaid, unrecognized household and volunteer work. Only women have the capacity to breastfeed. But the integration of breastfeeding with other kinds of work requires new policies and actions to protect the rights of women, including the right to breastfeed. This is particularly important today, as women workers face ever worsening conditions of work. Given the current process of economic globalization, conditions of paid work are becoming more uncertain and precarious.