The Role of Decent Work Statistics in Times of Jobs Crisis

1. 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

2. Decent work as a global goal • ILC report (1999) describes decent work as • “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: • (i) Rights at work, (ii) Employment; (iii) Social Protection; (iv) Social Dialogue and tripartism.

3. DecentWorkatrisk • Labour marketdistressisrising and this trend will continue wellinto 2011 and further. • Unemploymentwhichstoodat over 6% early in the decadebeforedecreasingbetween 2004 and 2007, has sinceincreaseddramatically to reach about 10% on average in 2010. • Relative to 2007, in 2010, there are 31 million more unemployed (209 million unemployed), the highesteverrecorded. • Danger of long-term damage to job prospects and productivity of currentcohort of youth. • Strain on statisticalresources to address the urgent decentworkdeficit

4. The impact of the crisis on real GDP and unemployment: country experiences differ strikinglyChanges in GDP (in percent) vs. Changes in Unemployment rate (UR, in percentage points) in 2009

5. Three margins of labour market adjustment during the crisis

6. 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. • StrategicpartnershipswithNSOs, Ministries of Labour, Social Security institutions, International organizations, developmentbanks, Academia, workers’ and employers’ organizations, etc.

7. Present challenges facing Decent Work Statistics • Disparities in availability and quality • Lack of harmonization and fragmentationduetolack of coordinationbetweenorganizations and donors • NeedtostrengthenNSOs and otherproducers of DecentWorkindicators. • Reaffirmingtheneedforcoherentnationalstatisticalsystems • Passiveinvolvementamongdevelopingcountries in thestandard-settingprocess • Needtohave more and timelier data formonitoring • Limitedaccessibilitytoinformationfromsomemajoreconomies • Politicalconcernsremain in somecountriesoverreleasinginformation!

8. Topicswhichhavegainedprominenceduringthejobs crisis • Growingworldlabourforce: needtohavebetterestimates • Informality • Youthunemployment • Discouragedworkers • Sectorial labourstatistics • Labourmigration • Wageinequality • Rise of insecureforms of work (hours of work, selfemployment, temporarycontracts) • Labour share, Productivity and Labourcosts • Impact of stimuluspackages

9. 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)

10. 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

11. Grouping of Decent Work Indicators • 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) • 11. Economic and social context for decent work Note: (1) Rights at work (2) Employment opportunities (3) Social Protection (4) Social Dialogue

12. How the ILO is moving forward (i) • Creation of the ILO Department of Statisticsreportingtothe DG (2009) • New mandate: assuringquality in statisticalmethods and products, promotingcoordination and coherencewithinthedifferent ILO units (childlabour, labourmarkettrends, social protectiondatabases, regional informationsystems, etc.) • Enhancing data compilationto cope withincreaseddemand (short-term and annual data) • Development of new user-friendly, interactive ILO statisticaldatabase and portal

13. How the ILO is moving forward (ii) • Development and application of time-series techniques at theinternationallevel (outliers, seasonaladjustment, etc.) • StrengtheningILO’stechnicalassistancetodevelopingcountries • Capacitybuildingtohelpconstituents (NSOs, Ministries of labour, Social Security Institutions, workers’ and employers’ associations, etc.) • Launching of WorkingGroupstodiscussemergingtopicsforthe 19th ICLS (2013) : labourunderutilization, internationalclassificationby status of employment and others • Active involvement in the G20 reporting and discussion • Statisticalbackgroundto IMF/ILO conference in Oslo highlighinglabour’s role in emergingfromthe crisis

15. “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.” Excerptsfromtoday’sstatementbyILO’s Director General Amb. Juan Somavia

16. Thank you! http://www.ilo.org/stat/lang--en/index.htm