1. Monitoring Decent Work and Labour Statistics
Rafael Diez de Medina
Chief Statistician, Director
Department of Statistics
International Labour Office
International Forum on Monitoring National Development: Issues and Challenges
Beijing, People’s Republic of China, September 2011

2. 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 )
Volume of work and labour cost in an economy
Statistics of wages and hours of work (ICLS 1923, )
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)

3. ILO concept of decent work
The concept of Decent Work has been defined by the ILO and endorsed by the international community as “Opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity”. (Juan Somavia, ILO Director-General, 1999 ILC Report).

4. Decent work as a global goal
Decent work dimensions have not been adequately covered in the past system of labour statistics.
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.

5. Why Monitoring Employment and Decent Work now is crucial ?
Labour market distress is rising and this trend will continue well into 2011 and further, due to possible double dip in key economies.
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 were 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

6. Labour Statistics and Decent Work: 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.

7. Topics which have gained prominence during the jobs crisis
Growing world labour force: need to have better estimates
Informality: informal employment and employment in the informal sector
Youth unemployment
Discouraged workers and new forms of “border cases”
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

8. 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
Collection of Decent Work Indicators from as many countries as possible

9. How the ILO is moving forward (ii)
Development and application of time-series techniques at the international level (outliers, seasonal adjustment, etc.)
Strengthening ILO’s technical assistance to developing countries, including preparation of manuals and guidelines.
Capacity building to help constituents (NSOs, Ministries of Labour, Social Security Institutions, workers’ and employers’ organisations, etc.)
Active involvement in the G20 reporting and discussion
Launching of Working Groups to discuss emerging topics for the 19th ICLS (2013): the measurement of employment and unemployment

10. Working Group for the Advancement of Employment & Unemployment Statistics
Purpose
To assist the ILO Department of Statistics with the advancement of employment and unemployment statistics through developmental work on topics relevant to a necessary revision or supplementation of the 13th ICLS (1982) Resolution on statistics of the economically active population, employment, unemployment and underemployment, such as the development of measures of labour underutilization to supplement the unemployment rate.

11. Working Group for the Advancement of Employment & Unemployment Statistics
Important
The consultations that the Department has conducted confirmed that that the current labour force framework remains relevant and adequate for the production of labour force statistics.
However, there is need to render the framework more versatile (i.e. by developing new supplementary measures) and clear (through clarification of ambiguities in existing guidelines) so that it can continue to be relevant to recent labour market developments and policy priorities.

12. Working Group for the Advancement of Employment & Unemployment Statistics (Cont’d)
Main expected outputs
To be submitted to the 19th ICLS for consideration and possible adoption:
Draft international statistical standard on (a) measure(s) of labour underutilization to supplement the unemployment rate
Draft recommendations for a possible revision or supplementation of the 13th ICLS (1982) Resolution on statistics of the economically active population, employment, unemployment and underemployment

13. Working Group for the Advancement of Employment & Unemployment Statistics (Cont’d)
Current WG membership
Next session in October 2013 in Geneva.
Regional discussions with ESCAP, ECLAC, ECA, ESCWAS
Members are expert statisticians from NSO with in-depth knowledge of/experience in labour force statistics
45 confirmed members from 30 countries or areas
+5 observers from Afristat, Eurostat, OECD, etc.

14. EMPSTATS online platform
Access by invitation only (WG members), requires a user id and password
Searchable and accessible only by registered WG members
Registered WG members agree to treat all content as confidential
To become a WG member, sent request to ILO Department of Statistics with name & affiliation of nominee expert labour statistician
ILO Department of Statistics

15. Enhancing data compilation to cope with increased demand: annual data, including Decent Work indicators
Revision and restructuring of the current ILO statistical database (LABORTSA) and
Merging of the KILM database with a new database of the Department of Statistics with relevant modifications and improvements of the former: Moving to one general ILO data portal: “ILOSTAT”
The ILO October Inquiry discontinued and a new product developed using the DELPHI Survey exercise integrated into the new database.
The ILO Decent Work statistical indicators database set up, covering as many countries as possible

16. Enhancing data compilation to cope with increased demand: short-term indicators

17. 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

18. 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

19. Thank you!
谢谢。