This paper examines challenges to freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining for workers in the gig economy, and explores the broad range of strategies that gig-economy workers are using to build collective agency, and to promote effective regulation of gig...

This paper studies wages in exporting and importing firms of the manufacturing sector in Africa, using firm-level data and employer-employee-level data from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys. We find that exporters pay on average higher wages to their workers than non-exporters. Gains from economies of scale explain the positive...

An enormous amount of literature has emerged over the last few years in the context of the “future of work”. Academics, think tanks and policy makers have fuelled rich discussions about how the future of work might look and how we can shape it. Indeed, labour markets in developing...

Air pollution affects workers’ ability to work by damaging their own health, but also by damaging the health of their dependents. This paper draws on 20 years of air pollution and employment data from Santiago, Chile, a highly polluted metropolis, particularly in fall and winter months. The paper finds...

While climate change mitigation measures may cause short-term job losses, the report shows that a just transition to a more sustainable economy offers much potential for job creation and the promotion of decent work. The report also looks at key issues linked with the path to a greener economy,...

The ILO has prepared this brief for the 2018 World Day for Safety and Health at Work, which aims to promote a safe and healthy generation. The goals of the brief are to describe the OSH risks faced by young workers and to encourage a global conversation on the...

Men, women and children from indigenous peoples are estimated to represent 4.5 per cent of the world’s population. They constitute more than 5,000 different groups with distinct cultures, forms of social organization, livelihood strategies, practices, notions of poverty and wellbeing, values, and beliefs profoundly embedded in their collective relationship with...

This book examines industrial and employment relations in the emerging economies of Brazil, China, India, South Africa and Turkey, and assesses the contribution of industrial relations institutions to inclusive development. The book uses real-world examples to examine the evolution of industrial relations and of organised interest representation on labour...

This edited volume asks: what was the role of women’s networks in shaping ILO policies and what were the gendered meanings of international labour law in a world of uneven and unequal development? Women’s ILO explores issues like equal remuneration, home-based labour and social welfare internationally and in places...

Explore the ILO’s set of estimates on employment around the world. Create charts and download data with the WESO Data Finder. Link to...

This report analyses key job quality indicators, devoting particular attention to informality, underemployment and temporary employment. It also takes stock of structural sectoral shifts and ageing, two long-term trends likely to add further pressures on the labour...

ILO, in collaboration with Gallup, surveyed men and women in 2016 to understand their perceptions about women and work. The results, based on interviews with nearly 149,000 adults in 142 countries and territories, suggest that women might find support in their quest for productive employment and decent work coming...

The present report analyses the situation of indigenous peoples in the context of climate change. It suggests that indigenous peoples are affected in distinctive ways by climate change, and also by the policies or actions that are aimed at addressing it. At the same time, it highlights that, as...

Around the world, finding a job is much tougher for women than it is for men. When women are employed, they tend to work in low-quality jobs in vulnerable conditions, and there is little improvement forecast in the near future. Explore this InfoStory to get the data behind the...

This paper uses the United Nations Global Policy Model (GPM) to assess how increasing minimum wages might impact the South African economy by increasing the share of income going to workers (the “labour share”) – in contrast to the share that accrues to capital through profits and property income....

Over recent decades, the emergence of new forms of private governance has been one of the most important features in global labour governance and a subject of extensive research. At the moment, as most research is based on case studies related to certain firms or sectors, our understanding of...

Using a unique sample of foreign-owned and domestic firms in Sub-Saharan Africa, we study the differences in the quantity and quality of jobs that they offer, and identify how these differences are determined by country-level institutional factors. After controlling for numerous firm-level characteristics, we find that foreign-owned firms offer...

This short documentary film focuses on the extension of social protection coverage to workers in the informal economy in Mozambique. It is a useful advocacy tool to raise awareness about the importance of increasing the coverage levels of these...

In this PSA, several Timorese people speak about the importance of social protection in their lives and how their quality of life has...

The ILO’s Social Protection Floors Calculator makes it possible to estimate the costs of child and orphan allowances, maternity benefits, public works programs for those without jobs, disability and old-age pensions. Link to...

This paper presents the results of costing universal social protection floors in 34 lower middle-income, and 23 low-income countries, consisting of: (i) allowances for all children and all orphans; (ii) maternity benefits for all women with newborns; (iii) benefits for all persons with severe disabilities, and (iv) universal old-age...

The case studies and exercises on unemployment protection based on the fictional country of Coresia is part of the training material of the Unemployment protection: A good practices guide and training package, Experiences from ASEAN. The training material was produced under ILO/Japan Project, Promoting and Building Social Protection in...

This unemployment protection guide covers knowledge, expertise and instruments that were developed through technical assistance to ASEAN countries provided by the ILO/Japan Project, Promoting and Building Social Protection in Asia. It can be used also as a toolkit by policy-makers to conduct feasibility studies for the design of unemployment...

This report examines the global and regional labour market trends and gaps, including in labour force participation rates, unemployment rates, employment status as well as sectoral and occupational segregation. It also presents a global in-depth analysis of the key drivers of female labour force participation by investigating the personal...

Universal social protection is essential for realizing the human right to social security for all, advancing social justice and promoting inclusive growth, and accelerating progress towards achieving the globally agreed 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This ILO flagship report provides a global overview...