The Role of Decent Work Statistics in
Times of Jobs Crisis
Rafael Diez de Medina
Chief Statistician, Director
Department of Statistics
International Labour Office
World Statistics Day, Geneva
20 October 2010
Decent work as a global goal
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ILC report (1999) describes decent work as
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“opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and
productive work in conditions of freedom, equity, security
and human dignity”.
Endorsed by ECOSOC, Presidential Summits and Head
of State Summits in all regions, UN system, European
Union, etc.
ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization
(2008) endorses Decent Work Agenda:
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(i) Rights at work, (ii) Employment; (iii) Social Protection;
(iv) Social Dialogue and tripartism.
Decent Work at risk
 Labour market distress is rising and this trend will continue well
into 2011 and further.
 Unemployment which stood at over 6% early in the decade
before decreasing between 2004 and 2007, has since increased
dramatically to reach about 10% on average in 2010.
 Relative to 2007, in 2010, there are 31 million more unemployed
(209 million unemployed), the highest ever recorded.
 Danger of long-term damage to job prospects and productivity
of current cohort of youth.
 Strain on statistical resources to address the urgent decent
work deficit
The impact of the crisis on real GDP and unemployment: country experiences differ strikingly
Changes in GDP (in percent) vs. Changes in Unemployment rate (UR, in percentage points) in 2009
Three margins of labour market adjustment during the crisis
Commitments to monitor
progress towards decent work
 2008 Declaration on Social Justice for a
Fair Globalization recommends that ILO Members may
consider:
 “the establishment of appropriate indicators or statistics,
if necessary with the assistance of the ILO, to monitor and
evaluate the progress made”
 Monitoring of MDG Goal 1, Target 2:
 Achieve full and productive employment and decent work
for all, including women and young people.
 Strategic partnerships with NSOs, Ministries of Labour,
Social Security institutions, International organizations,
development banks, Academia, workers’ and
employers’ organizations, etc.
Present challenges facing Decent
Work Statistics
 Disparities in availability and quality
 Lack of harmonization and fragmentation due to lack of
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coordination between organizations and donors
Need to strengthen NSOs and other producers of Decent Work
indicators.
Reaffirming the need for coherent national statistical systems
Passive involvement among developing countries in the
standard-setting process
Need to have more and timelier data for monitoring
Limited accessibility to information from some major
economies
Political concerns remain in some countries over releasing
information!
Topics which have gained
prominence during the jobs crisis
 Growing world labour force: need to have better estimates
 Informality
 Youth unemployment
 Discouraged workers
 Sectorial labour statistics
 Labour migration
 Wage inequality
 Rise of insecure forms of work (hours of work, self employment,
temporary contracts)
 Labour share, Productivity and Labour costs
 Impact of stimulus packages
Labour statistics & decent work
 Decent work dimensions have not been adequately
covered in the past system of labour statistics.
 Historically, labour market statistics have taken a
macro-perspective on an economy and focused on:
 Labour supply and labour demand in an economy
 Employment and unemployment statistics; ICLS 1925 ... 1998)
 Volume of work and labour cost in an economy
 Statistics of wages and hours of work (ICLS 1923, 1925 ...)
 Classifications:
 Classification of industries and occupations (ICLS 1923, 1925 …)
 International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) (ICLS
1949, ..., 1988, 2008)
 International classification according to status in employment
(ICSE) (ICLS 1957, 1993, 1998)
Principles and framework for measuring
decent work
 Purpose: (i) to assist constituents to assess progress towards decent
work (PRS, National development frameworks and DWCP) and (ii) to
offer comparable information for analysis and policy development.
 NO ranking of countries & NO composite index.
 Needs to cover all four dimensions of Decent Work derived from
various sources: household and establishment surveys, administrative
records, qualitative information, among others.
 New framework recommended by the 18th ICLS
 Model of international relevance that permits the adaptation to
national circumstances
 Has the potential to evolve dynamically over the years.
 A layered approach to indicators: Main, Additional, Context,
Future and Legal Framework indicators
Grouping of Decent Work Indicators
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Grouping of indicators under 10 substantive elements of the Decent Work Agenda plus one area on economic and
social context:
 1. Employment opportunities (1 + 2)
 2. Adequate earnings and productive work (1 + 3)
 3. Decent hours (1 + 3)
 4. Combining work, family and personal life (1 + 3)
 5. Work that should be abolished (1 + 3)
 6. Stability and security of work (1, 2 + 3)
 7. Equal opportunity and treatment in employment
(1, 2 + 3)
 8. Safe work environment (1 + 3)
 9. Social security (1 + 3)
 10. Social dialogue, workers’ and employers’ representation (1 + 4)
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11. Economic and social context for decent work
Note: (1) Rights at work (2) Employment opportunities (3) Social Protection (4) Social Dialogue
How the ILO is moving forward (i)
 Creation of the ILO Department of Statistics reporting to the
DG (2009)
 New mandate: assuring quality in statistical methods and
products, promoting coordination and coherence within the
different ILO units (child labour, labour market trends, social
protection databases, regional information systems, etc.)
 Enhancing data compilation to cope with increased demand
(short-term and annual data)
 Development of new user-friendly, interactive ILO statistical
database and portal
How the ILO is moving forward (ii)
 Development and application of time-series techniques at
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the international level (outliers, seasonal adjustment, etc.)
Strengthening ILO’s technical assistance to developing
countries
Capacity building to help constituents (NSOs, Ministries of
labour, Social Security Institutions, workers’ and employers’
associations, etc.)
Launching of Working Groups to discuss emerging topics for
the 19th ICLS (2013) : labour underutilization, international
classification by status of employment and others
Active involvement in the G20 reporting and discussion
Statistical background to IMF/ILO conference in Oslo
highlighing labour’s role in emerging from the crisis
“Better measuring progress in the realization of decent work is key to the
realization of the Decent Work Agenda. We are placing high priority on
enhancing the empirical basis of decent work policies and providing relevant
and timely data that is being requested of us.”
“The ILO is committed to constantly striving to improve its statistical
capability to support national efforts. The mandate and capacity of the ILO
Department of Statistics has been strengthened to meet this objective.”
“A more comprehensive set of data is indispensable to better diagnose trends
shaping the world of work and ultimately the lives of women and men, families
and communities. We need the skilful data producers and the sharp analysts
who can relate their statistical capability to the realities of the world of work
and who can communicate effectively with policy makers and all who draw on
their statistics to shape a world of decent work for all. Today, we celebrate
“the service, the professionalism and the integrity” of official statistics in the
world.”
“The international statistical community will find in the ILO a committed ally
in this journey.”
Excerpts from today’s statement by ILO’s Director General Amb. Juan Somavia
Thank you!
http://www.ilo.org/stat/lang--en/index.htm