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International developments in labour market statistics since the UN Review. Catherine Barham Labour Market Division Office for National Statistics. Outline. Overview of UN Review of Labour Statistics Recommendations and responses International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS)
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International developments in labour market statistics since the UN Review Catherine Barham Labour Market Division Office for National Statistics
Outline • Overview of UN Review of Labour Statistics • Recommendations and responses • International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) • Observations and conclusions
Overview of UN Review • ONS asked to carry out Programme Review of labour statistics by UNSC in Feb 07 • Review presented to UN Statistical Commission in New York on the “6th Feb 2008. • Item on the agenda of the ICLS in November 2008 • Follow-up at UNSC meeting 2009
Brief on content of Review • What is currently being done and who are the key players • How well is the current system working • Is what is being done sufficiently in line with the demand for this type of statistics or are there gaps • What are the priority areas for the future
Structure • Indicators of labour statistics • Roles of international agencies involved in labour statistics • Survey of UN member countries • Labour market frameworks • Recommendations
1. Indicators of international LMS • Main international agencies involved in compiling labour stats are: ILO, OECD and Eurostat. • Issues of overlap, lack of coherence and comparability. • KILM (ILO) most comprehensive but out of date and metadata incomplete. • Internationally agreed definitions adhered to (ILO unemployment etc) but differing interpretations
Cont.. • Huge progress made in harmonising concepts and definitions internationally, largely through work of the ILO • Promoting input harmonisation key part of future work • Plans to develop set of key labour statistics indicators common to OECD, ILO, Eurostat • Also issues with collecting info in countries with less developed economies
2. Roles of international agencies Compilation and dissemination activities Survey of UN member countries Concept of collect once, use many times Development work International standards – expert groups to work on topical issues Speed up process of agreeing standards Technical assistance Statistical training integral part of statistical capacity building Review of current system
4. Labour Market Framework Labour supply Labour demand Families/hhlds People Employers Employed Unemployed Inactive Vacancies Jobs Self-employed Employees Gvt schemes
Suggested improvements • Further development of the dynamic aspects • Parallel framework for labour demand • Extending the use of family and household statistics • Developing the interactions with other areas
5. Recommendations Overall, the Review listed 5 main recommendations: • Harmonisation of concepts and methods • Co-ordinated system for providing technical assistance • Improvements to the existing system of setting international standards • Setting up of working groups to discuss 5 priority areas for LS in future • Developing an updated version of the conceptual labour statistics framework
International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) • Held every 5 years at ILO headquarters, Geneva • Aim for attendance by all ILO member countries • 2 weeks long • Aim is for working groups to meet during this period and draft a report before the end of the conference.
Agenda 2008 • Statistical work of the ILO during the period 2004-2008 (including UN Review recommendations) • Updating of the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) • Measuring and monitoring decent work • Indicators of labour underutilization • Measurement of volunteer work
Cont.. • Future work of the ILO in labour statistics (2009-2013) • Measurement of Working Time • Measurement of Child Labour • Employment and unemployment: Revisiting the relevance and conceptual basis of the statistics.
Challenges Employment and work • Classification of employment based on principal that activity contributes to production of goods and services • Ties employment stats firmly in economic sphere • Fails to give due cognisance to work as a social activity that takes time, requires skills and contributes to welfare • Notion of ‘work’ in addition to ‘employment’
Implications • Re-examine current perspective in international standards that look at work from mainly an economic standpoint • For social analysis, consider introducing a new concept of ‘work statistics’. • Would extend beyond employment stats to include stats derived from unpaid non-market services.
Links • Link to UN Review from UN website http://unstats.un.org/unsd/statcom/sc2008.htm • Link to papers fro ICLS from ILO website http://ILO.org