World Employment and Social Outlook: May 2024 Update

FOCUS

This report updates the World Employment and Social Outlook 2024 data, presenting the latest figures on key labour market indicators as of May 2024. It states that 4.9 per cent of the working-age population (15 years of age and above) are unemployed. The report has been published by International Labour Organization on May 29, 2024.

The report states that 402 million people do not have jobs despite wanting to work. Job deficits are wider in developing countries and for women. Of these, 183 million are categorized as ‘unemployed’ which means that they are available at short notice and actively searching for work.

This 14-page document is divided into six sections: Key messages (Section 1); Macroeconomic developments (Section 2); The jobs situation (Section 3); What’s holding women back? (Section 4); Measuring what matters (Section 5); Conclusions (Section 6).

    FACTOIDS

  1. The report notes that the employment rate among women (aged 15 and above) is at 45.6 per cent of their population. Among men (aged 15 years and above) the employment rate is 69.2 per cent, marking a gap of 23.6 percentage points between the two genders studied. The reasons cited for this inequality includes family responsibilities, such as marriage and parenthood, which lead to disproportionate unpaid care work for women.

  2. The income earned by women is substantially lower than men, with 73 cents earned for a dollar in high-income countries and just 44 cents to a dollar in low-income countries.

  3. The report predicts reduction in global inflation – the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is projected to be 3.2 per cent in 2024, marking a rise of 0.1 percentage points since January 2024. This, the report states, will help reduce the loss of real wages seen in recent years.

  4. In another report published by the ILO in 2018, the authors took a sample size of 11 countries and found that unpaid care work done by women was an average of 3.7 hours in households with no children and 6.1 hours among households with small children. In contrast, for men, this was 1.7 hours in households with no children and 2.2 hours with small children.

  5. An analysis of 20 countries revealed that women's job tenure is shorter in the informal sector compared to the formal sector. Additionally, while an increase in tenure leads to wage gains for both men and women in the formal sector, this is not the case in the informal sector where women gain substantially low returns for longer tenure.

  6. The report states that the rate of poverty reduction has slowed down since 2015 from 5.7 per cent in the previous decade to only 1.4 per cent annually thereafter.

  7. The report notes a significant increase in informal employment which has increased from approximately 1.7 billion workers in 2005 to 2.03 billion in 2024.

  8. The report states that for measuring development, it is crucial to monitor social progress indicators and not just the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth. In order to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the report recommends dialogue at all levels which is focused at promoting policies that are effective, inclusive and equitable.

    Focus and Factoids by Rishab Gaur. 

AUTHOR

International Labour Organization 

COPYRIGHT

International Labour Organization 

PUBLICATION DATE

29 May, 2024

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