Decent Workand the Sustainable Development Goals

Decent work and the sustainable development goals A guidebook on SDG labour market indicators

A Guidebook on SDG Labour Market Indicators

Departmentof Statistics

I S B N 978-92-2-132117-0

ILO
9789221 321170

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION

Decent Work and the Sustainable Development Goals:
A Guidebook on SDG Labour Market Indicators

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE GENEVA

Copyright © International Labour Organization 2018
First published 2018
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Decent Work and the Sustainable Development Goals: A Guidebook on SDG Labour Market Indicators, Departmentof Statistics (STATISTICS), Geneva: ILO, 2018.
ISBN 978-92-2-132117-0 (print)
ISBN 978-92-2-132118-7 (Web pdf)

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Acknowledgements
This Guidebook was drafted by Rosina Gammarano, with contributions from Steven
Kapsos, both of the ILO Department of Statistics’ Data Production and Analysis Unit. The
Guidebook is based on their work in compiling and analysing labour statistics, the ILO’s
SDG reporting, and consultations with internal and external experts on the SDG global
indicator framework.
The quality of the Guidebook was greatly enhanced by the comments provided bycolleagues across the ILO, notably Elisa Benes, Tite Habiyakare, Nader Keyrouz, David
Kucera, Valter Nebuloni, Shane O’higgins, Mustafa Hakki Ozel, Aurelio Parisotto, Yves
Perardel, Ritash Sarna and Marie-Claire Sodergren.
This document benefited from the guidance of Rafael Diez de Medina, Director of theILO Department of Statistics.

Guidebook-Decent Work-[STATI-180920-1]-En.docxiiiPreface
The world achieved great progress under the Millennium Development Goals (better
known as the MDGs). However, by the time they expired in 2015, some MDGs had not yet
been accomplished and many new challenges had emerged in the world. The Sustainable
Development Goals, or the SDGs, successors of the MDGs, take on the unfinished aspectsof the MDG agenda as well as numerous new goals pertaining to complex, modern issues.
The 2030 Agenda is an encompassing, ambitious and integral agenda for sustainable
development, applicable to all countries regardless of their stage of development. Indeed,
one of the key principles of the SDGs is leaving no one behind.
The quest for decent work for all men and women, for productive, high-quality
employment and for inclusive labour markets is encompassed in the 2030 Agenda under
Goal 8, but it is also seen as a cross-cutting topic, underlying other goals as well andintertwined with many targets across the 2030 Agenda.
In order to monitor progress made under the SDGs, it is necessary to have a set of
appropriate indicators, agreed on at the international level both by data users and data
producers. Given the increased complexity of the SDGs compared to the MDGs, the list of
SDG indicators is much longer and covers a wider variety of topics. In many instances, the
new challenges included in the 2030 Agenda require designing indicators specifically forthis purpose. Thus, the SDG indicators range across different levels of methodologicaldevelopment and data availability.
While the 60 indicators under the MDGs were mostly based on existing indicators anddata sources with limited disaggregation, the SDGs have more than 230 accompanying
indicators, many of which are conceptually complex and include a multitude of requested
disaggregations.
The SDG indicators pertaining to the labour market are numerous and cover a wide
range of labour-related topics, referring to both the quantity and the quality of employment,
as well as to the national context, along with other issues. The SDG labour market indicators
include indicators with an established, internationally agreed methodology and data
regularly produced by the majority of countries around the world, as well as indicators thatstill need methodological development before getting to the data compilation stages. Mostof the SDG labour market indicators pertain to Goal 8, but some refer to other goals, such as
Goals 1, 5 and 10.
This Guidebook provides a detailed overview of the SDG labour market indicators. It
presents a review of the standards and methods used for the compilation, calculation anddissemination of the SDG labour market indicators, and it includes an update on themethodological development plans for those indicators that do not yet have an agreed
methodology. It is intended to serve as a manual of best practices for the compilation,dissemination and interpretation of SDG labour market indicators, with a view to monitoring
progress made at the national and international levels towards the achievement of the SDGs.

Guidebook-Decent Work-[STATI-180920-1]-En.docxvContents
Page

Acknowledgements ...........................................................................................................................

iii

Preface ...............................................................................................................................................

v

1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................

1

1.1.

The 2030 Agenda and the quest for Decent Work ........................................................

1

1.2.

From the MDGs to the SDGs ........................................................................................

3

1.3.

SDG indicators ..............................................................................................................

4

1.4.

Role and mandate of custodian agencies ......................................................................

6

1.5.

Tier classification of SDG indicators ............................................................................

7

2. Labour market indicators with an established methodology (tiers I and II) ................................

9

Indicators under the ILO’s custodianship of Goal 8: Promote inclusive
and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all .....................

11

2.1.1. Labour productivity ..........................................................................................

11

2.1.2. Informal employment .......................................................................................

16

2.1.3. Hourly earnings and pay gap ............................................................................

20

2.1.4. Unemployment rate ..........................................................................................

26

2.1.5. Youth NEET rate ..............................................................................................

31

2.1.6. Child labour ......................................................................................................

36

2.1.7. Occupational injuries ........................................................................................

40

Indicators under the ILO’s custodianship of other Goals .............................................

45

2.2.1. Social protection coverage ...............................................................................

46

2.2.2. Female share in management ...........................................................................

50

2.2.3. Labour share of GDP ........................................................................................

54

Other indicators with ILO’s involvement .....................................................................

58

2.3.1. Working poverty...............................................................................................

58

2.3.2. Participation in education and training .............................................................

61

3. Labour market indicators requiring methodological development (tier III) ................................

63

2.1.

2.2.

2.3.

3.1.

Compliance with labour rights ......................................................................................

64

3.2.

National strategies for youth employment ....................................................................

64

3.3.

Recruitment cost ...........................................................................................................

66

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vii

3.4.

Law of the sea ...............................................................................................................

67

3.5.

Verified cases of killings and kidnapping .....................................................................

67

4. Labour market indicators for which the ILO is not custodian or a partner agency(but is involved) ...........................................................................................................................

69

5. Cross-cutting nature of the SDG labour market indicators ..........................................................

70

5.1.

Links and interdependencies among the SDG labour market indicators ......................

70

5.2.

SDG labour market indicators underlying (non-labour market) targets and goals .......

71

6. Data disaggregation ......................................................................................................................

72

6.1.

Considerations on the disaggregation of labour statistics .............................................

72

6.2.

Widely available disaggregations at the international level ..........................................

73

6.2.1. Sex ....................................................................................................................

73

6.2.2. Age ...................................................................................................................

73

6.2.3. Education ..........................................................................................................

73

6.2.4. Occupation........................................................................................................

73

6.2.5. Economic activity .............................................................................................

74

6.2.6. Status in employment .......................................................................................

74

Challenging (but necessary) disaggregations ................................................................

74

6.3.1. Urban/rural areas ..............................................................................................

74

6.3.2. Migrant status ...................................................................................................

74

6.3.3. Disability status ................................................................................................

75

7. Considerations on data sources ....................................................................................................

76

6.3.

7.1.

Population census ..........................................................................................................

76

7.2.

Household surveys ........................................................................................................

76

7.3.

Establishment census and surveys.................................................................................

77

7.4.

Administrative records ..................................................................................................

77

7.5.

National accounts ..........................................................................................................

78

7.6.

Official estimates ..........................................................................................................

78

7.7.

Big data .........................................................................................................................

78

8. Concluding remarks .....................................................................................................................

80

References .........................................................................................................................................

81

viii

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1. Introduction
1.1. The 2030 Agenda and the quest
for Decent Work
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were the eight international
development goals established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations(UN) in 2000, where the United Nations Millennium Declaration 1 was adopted. The
MDGs were meant to be achieved by 2015 and provided a global and overarchingframework for economic development, including poverty reduction, improved health andeducation outcomes and other priority areas across developing countries. 2
While global progress towards achieving the MDGs was very successful in many
areas, progress was uneven in terms of both regions and goals. By their deadline in 2015,
some of the goals remained unachieved and many new challenges had emerged in theworld.
Thus, the international community decided to take on both the unfinished aspects of
the MDG agenda and the new global challenges in a more encompassing, integral manner,
not only seeking to achieve development across all regions and goals but also ensuring thesustainability of this progress. Sustainable development is defined in the 1987 Report of
the World Commission on Environment and Development 3 as “development that meetsthe needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meettheir own needs”. Sustainable development associates three key elements, which areinterlinked and interdependent: economic growth, social inclusion and environmental
protection. Based on this, world leaders adopted a set of 17 Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) during the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in September
2015. These goals constitute the core of the Agenda for Sustainable Development to beaccomplished by 2030. The 17 SDGs listed in table 1, also known as the “Global Goals”,
came into force on 1 January 2016. 4

1

United Nations Millennium Declaration, General Assembly resolution 55/2 (September 2000),
available at http://www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.pdf.
2

For more information on the Millennium Development Goals indicators, please visit
http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/.
3

The Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future,transmitted to the UN General Assembly in document A/42/427, is available at http://www.undocuments.net/wced-ocf.htm.
4

For more detailed information on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, see
http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-agenda/ or see General Assembly
resolution
70/1
of
25
September
2015
athttp://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E.

Guidebook-Decent Work-[STATI-180920-1]-En.docx

1Table 1.

List of Sustainable Development Goals

Goal 1

End poverty in all its forms everywhere

Goal 2End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

Goal 3

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Goal 4

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

Goal 5

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Goal 6

Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

Goal 7

Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

Goal 8Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Goal 9Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

Goal 10

Reduce inequality within and among countries

Goal 11Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Goal 12

Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

Goal 13

Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

Goal 14

Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

Goal 15

Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat
desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

Goal 16

Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build
effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

Goal 17

Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

These 17 SDGs build on the MDGs but aim to go further, striving to end all forms ofpoverty and ensure sustainable development everywhere. They are universal, that is, they
apply to countries in all stages of development and take into account differences in national
contexts, capacities and priorities. They bring together efforts by various actors, including
governments, international organizations, civil society and the private sector, althoughgovernments are expected to take ownership and design national frameworks for therealization of the 2030 Agenda. The Goals promote prosperity while protecting the planet,
putting forward the idea that ending poverty must be aligned with strategies for economic
growth and addressing at the same time social needs and environmental concerns. The 17
Goals are interconnected and include many cross-cutting elements, such as genderequality. It is also worth noting that the 2030 Agenda specifically presents the means of
implementation to achieve these goals by their deadline.
In this context, the quest for decent work for all has gained importance in the SDGs
in comparison with the MDGs. The central role of decent work in promoting economic
development was already recognized in the MDGs, but the SDGs further highlighted its
relevance and increased its prominence.
Within the MDG framework, decent work was enshrined in Goal 1 (Eradicate
extreme poverty and hunger) and more precisely in Target 1.B (Achieve full andproductive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people). For
monitoring progress made towards the accomplishment of this target, four indicators wereselected: the growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP) per person employed, theemployment-to-population ratio, the proportion of employed people living with theirfamilies on less than US$1.25 (at purchasing power parity (PPP)) per person per day andthe proportion of own-account and contributing family workers in total employment (alsoknown as the vulnerable employment rate). Decent work was also represented under
Goal 3 (Promote gender equality and empower women), which included a labour market

2

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indicator to measure progress made towards gender equality (the share of women in wage
employment in the non-agricultural sector). 5
The SDG framework emphasizes decent work and Goal 8 is dedicated to it (Promotesustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment
and decent work for all), taking the form of 12 targets covering a range of topics, such as
per capita GDP growth, labour productivity, the formalization of the economy and labour
market, the protection of migrant workers, the situation of youth in the labour market andthe eradication of forced labour and the worst forms of child labour. 6 There are 17
indicators under Goal 8. 7
In addition to being clearly included as a separate goal, decent work is also a crosscutting topic in the SDG framework, with a strong presence in many other goals, such as
Goal 1 (End poverty), Goal 4 (Ensure quality education), Goal 5 (Achieve genderequality), Goal 10 (Reduce inequality), Goal 14 (Conserve marine resources), and Goal 16(Promote justice and institutions).

1.2. From the MDGs to the SDGs
The SDGs take on the unfinished aspects of the MDGs, in addition to tackling many
new challenges. Thus, the SDGs are broader in scope, given that they cover the three
dimensions of sustainable development: economic growth, social inclusion andenvironmental protection. They are ambitions and far-reaching, attempting to addresssocial, economic and environmental concerns. Due to their wider scope, the SDGs are also
considerably more numerous than the MDGs (the MDGs consisted of eight Goals and 21
targets, whereas the SDGs consist of 17 Goals and 169 targets). Also, while the MDGs
focused mainly on developing countries, the SDGs are universal and apply to countries at
all stages of development.
The greater complexity of the SDGs vis-à-vis the MDGs also implies a higher
complexity for the measurement of progress made towards the achievement of the goals.
In this regard, the list of SDG indicators approved by the United Nations General Assemblyin July 2017 includes more than 230 indicators, many of which do not yet have aninternationally agreed methodology, compared to the 60 indicators used to monitor
progress under the MDGs, which were all relatively simple and widely available.
It is important to note the emphasis placed on the implementation of the SDGs,
including the mobilization of financial resources, capacity building and technology, as wellas the need for reliable and timely data for monitoring and robust institutions to follow up
the 2030 Agenda. It is also worth highlighting the greater emphasis on data disaggregation,
justified by the need to ensure that no one is left behind in the global development agenda.
Table 2 compares the main features of the MDGs and the SDGs.

5

For more information on the Millennium Development Goals indicators, please visit
http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/.
6

For the complete list of Sustainable Development Goals and targets, visit
http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/. For targets under
Goal 8 specifically, visit http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/economic-growth/.
7

For the complete list of global Sustainable Development Goal indicators, visit
https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/indicators/indicators-list/.

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3Table 2.

Key features of the MDGs and the SDGs compared
MDGs

SDGs

Scope

Address extreme poverty in its many dimensions

Promote sustainable development througheconomic growth, social inclusion andenvironmental protection

Coverage

Focus on developing countries, mainly low-income
countries

Applicable to all countries

Actors involved

Governments and relevant internationalorganizations

Governments, relevant international organizations,civil society and the private sector

Composition

Eight Goals and 21 targets

17 Goals and 169 targets

Monitoring andmeasurement

60 indicators:– All relatively simple indicators.
– Homogeneous set of indicators in terms of data
availability and methodological development.
– Data widely available for most indicators.
– Limited data disaggregations requested.

232 different indicators: 1– Many complex indicators, sometimes withseveral dimensions or sub-indicators.
– Considerable variability across indicators interms of data availability and methodologicaldevelopment. 2– Considerable variability in data availability
across regions and countries for indicators withan established methodology; no data available
for indicators without an establishedmethodology.
– Many disaggregations requested, including
some complex and still undefinedclassifications. 3

New features
introduced in theSDGs

SDG global indicator framework approved by theGeneral Assembly in its resolution 71/313 of 6
July 2017, signalling the increased importance of,and political commitment to, SDG monitoring
Increased importance given to the integrated
nature of the SDGs
Strong focus on the actual implementation of the2030 Agenda
Monitoring not only by means of statisticalindicators but also by following up policy
formulation and implementation
More actors involved as drivers of progress,
including civil society and the private sector
Explicit promotion of peaceful and inclusive
societies with accountable institutions (Goal 16)
Concrete measures to tackle climate change

1 The total number of indicators in the list of global SDG indicators (July 2017) is 244, but because some indicators repeat under different targets theactual number of unique indicators is 232.
2 See description of tier classification of SDG global indicators in section 1.5.
3 See review of disaggregations requested for SDG global indicators pertaining to decent work in section 5.

1.3. SDG indicators
In order to monitor progress made towards the achievement of the global Goals andthe corresponding targets, identify areas of concern and inform policy formulation, it isnecessary to have a set of valid and reliable indicators. At the national level, to assess towhat extent the 2030 Agenda is implemented within countries, governments can prioritize

4

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the indicators that best serve national needs, taking into account the national context andstatistical development. However, at the global level, in order to measure progress from awider point of view, it is crucial to have a set of indicators that can be produced in a regular,
timely, reliable and comparable manner, within a framework agreed upon at theinternational level. This global indicator framework was developed by the Inter-Agency
and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators 8 and agreed upon at theforty-eighth session of the UN Statistical Commission, held in March 2017. It was later
adopted by the UN General Assembly in July 2017. 9
Each global SDG indicator is assigned to one or more custodian agencies (see section
1.4 below), which are responsible for reporting on the corresponding indicator at the global
level. Sometimes other partner agencies beyond the custodian agencies are also identified
as having valuable expertise for the indicator in question. Each global SDG indicator isalso given a tier, based on its methodological development and data availability (seesection 1.5).
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is the sole custodian of 11 global SDG
indicators, is joint custodian with other agencies for 3 indicators and is involved as apartner agency for 3 indicators; table 3 lists those 17 indicators as well as 1 indicator thatis still under discussion. On the basis of its mandate and expertise, the ILO is also involvedin the methodological development and other statistical aspects of some indicators forwhich it is neither custodian nor a partner agency. This is the case, for instance, ofindicator 5.4.1 on the proportion of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work.
Table 3.

Global SDG indicators for which the ILO is the custodian or partner agency

Indicator
numberIndicator title

Custodianagency/ies

Partneragency/ies

1.1.1

Proportion of population below the international poverty line, by sex,age, employment status and geographical location (urban/rural)

World Bank

ILO

I

1.3.1

Proportion of population covered by social protection floors/systems bysex, distinguishing children, unemployed persons, older persons,
persons with disabilities, pregnant women, newborns, work-injury
victims and the poor and the vulnerable

ILO

World Bank

II

1.a.2

Proportion of total government spending on essential services(education, health and social protection)

Under discussion (ILO,
UNESCO-UIS, WHO)

II

4.3.1

Participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal
education and training in the previous 12 months, by sex

UNESCO-UIS

II

5.5.2

Proportion of women in managerial positions

ILO

8.2.1

Annual growth rate of real GDP per employed person

ILO

8.3.1

Proportion of informal employment in non-agriculture employment, by
sex

ILO

II

8.5.1

Average hourly earnings of female and male employees, byoccupation, age and persons with disabilities

ILO

II

8.5.2

Unemployment rate, by sex, age and persons with disabilities

ILO

I

OECD,
EUROSTAT,
ILO

Tier

I
World Bank,
UNSD

I

8

For more information on the Inter-Agency and Expert Group, its membership, mandate andactivities, see https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/iaeg-sdgs/.
9

The list of global SDG indicators available at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/indicators/indicators-list/.

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5Indicator
numberIndicator title

Custodianagency/ies

Partneragency/ies

8.6.1

Proportion of youth (aged 15–24 years) not in education, employment
or training

ILO

I

8.7.1

Proportion and number of children aged 5–17 years engaged in childlabour, by sex and age

ILO and UNICEF

II

8.8.1

Frequency rates of fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries, by sex andmigrant status

ILO

II

8.8.2

Level of national compliance of labour rights (freedom of associationand collective bargaining) based on International Labour Organization(ILO) textual sources and national legislation, by sex and migrant
status

ILO

III

8.b.1

Existence of a developed and operationalized national strategy foryouth employment, as a distinct strategy or as part of a national
employment strategy

ILO

World Bank,
OECD

III

10.4.1

Labour share of GDP, comprising wages and social protection
transfers

ILO

IMF

II

10.7.1

Recruitment cost borne by employee as a proportion of yearly income
earned in country of destination

ILO and World
Bank

III

14.c.1

Number of countries making progress in ratifying, accepting andimplementing through legal, policy and institutional frameworks, oceanrelated instruments that implement international law, as reflected in the
United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea, for the conservationand sustainable use of the oceans and their resources

UN-DOALOS,
FAO, UNEP,
ILO, UN-OceansIII

16.10.1

Number of verified cases of killing, kidnapping, enforced
disappearance, arbitrary detention and torture of journalists, associatedmedia personnel, trade unionists and human rights advocates in theprevious 12 months

OHCHR

ILO,
UNESCO-UIS

Tier

III

1.4. Role and mandate of custodian agencies
The process of global SDG monitoring and reporting (reporting data on all the global
SDG indicators, including country-level data and global and regional estimates) involves
many actors, as described below.
National agencies (national statistical offices, line ministries, etc.) collect andcompile national data and make it widely accessible to the public along with the relevant
metadata, or provide it specifically for global reporting to the relevant international
agencies.
Each global SDG indicator is assigned one or several custodian agencies. These
custodian agencies are specialized international agencies with statistical, methodologicaland analytical expertise in a given domain and are mandated to coordinate related statisticaland methodological work. They use their expertise to compile the country-level data
produced by national agencies and build cross-country datasets for the indicators under
their custodianship. They ensure the robustness and comparability of the country-levelstatistics by verifying that the concepts, definitions, classifications and methodologies used
to produce the data follow international guidelines. They also document factors thatadversely affect comparability and make adjustments to improve international
comparability, where necessary and feasible. When country data are missing, agencies try
to fill in the gaps, to the extent possible, by resorting to other sources or by utilizing
imputation or estimation methods. They are also responsible for calculating global andregional aggregates. International agencies then provide the country-level, global and6

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regional statistics, along with the relevant metadata, to the United Nations Statistics
Division (UNSD), which has overall responsibility for disseminating all of the data acrossall indicators. Where two or more international agencies are joint custodians of a given
indicator, they work in close collaboration to provide a single consolidated dataset to
UNSD. Sometimes, in addition to the custodian agency/ies, there are other partner agencies
with valuable knowledge related to the corresponding domain; these can be consulted andcan provide useful statistical or analytical inputs or comments. 10
For indicators with no internationally agreed methodology (tier III indicators; seesection 3 below), custodian agencies are in charge of leading methodological development
efforts, which entails the coordination of inputs and proposals by various experts, thedevelopment of statistical standards and seeking support for their adoption at the national
level.
Custodian agencies are also responsible for ensuring that the corresponding indicators
are produced by all countries in line with relevant international standards. This includes
providing technical but also, where possible, financial support, where needed, to national
statistical systems and developing capacity-building tools.
UNSD makes available all the internationally comparable country-level data received
from custodian agencies on each of the indicators, as well as the global and regional
aggregates and all the relevant metadata, in its SDG Indicators global database. 11
Regional agencies, including regional offices of international organizations such as
the United Nations regional commissions and regional statistical offices such as Eurostat,
may contribute to the data reporting process by acting as intermediaries, facilitating dataflows from countries to custodian agencies. In some cases, they may also collect andcompile country-level data in the countries they cover and may even adapt international
standards to their specific regional context.

1.5. Tier classification of SDG indicators
With a view to organizing the work involving the global SDG indicators, a decision
was taken by the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal
Indicators to classify indicators into three tiers, according to whether or not there is alreadyan internationally agreed methodology for them and also according to their data
availability. Tier I consists of global SDG indicators that already have a well-establishedmethodology, agreed upon at the international level and for which data is regularly
produced and widely available for at least half of the countries and half the population of
the relevant regions. Tier II consists of global SDG indicators that already have a clearly
defined and internationally agreed methodology but for which data is available for a more
limited number of countries or not for all regions and is not regularly produced. Tier III

10

As the implementation of the 2030 Agenda progresses and we see the emergence of national
reporting platforms (NRPs), mechanisms through which countries will report voluntarily on SDG
indicators and select items at the national level, the role of custodian agencies may evolve.
11

The SDG Indicators global database is available at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/indicators/database/.

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7

consists of global SDG indicators that still do not have a methodology in place, including
clear definitions, concepts and classifications. 12
In the most recent tier classification of global SDG indicators, 13 approximately
40 per cent of the indicators are tier I, while 31 per cent are tier II and 27 per cent are tierIII, with 2 per cent having multiple tiers (due to differences in indicator components). Thus,
more than a quarter of the indicators still require substantial methodological work before
moving onto the data compilation stages. Notably, of the 14 indicators for which the ILO
is custodian (solely or jointly with other agencies), only four indicators are tier III.

12

For detailed information on the tier classification, see https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/iaeg-sdgs/tierclassification/.
13

The classification as of 11 May 2018 is available at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/iaeg-sdgs/tierclassification/.

8

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2. Labour market indicators with an establishedmethodology (tiers I and II)
In the list of global SDG indicators, indicators that are conceptually clear and havean internationally agreed methodology based on international standards, whether with data
regularly available for at least half of the countries and representing at least half of the
population of each region (tier I indicators) or whether with more limited data availability(tier II indicators), are the indicators that have been used for monitoring and reporting on
the SDGs since their inception. The ILO is the sole custodian agency for nine tier I andtier II indicators and joint custodian for one additional indicator. Most of the tier I and tier
II indicators under ILO custodianship refer to Goal 8 (one indicators) but some refer toGoals 1, 5 and 10 (one indicator each). Detailed methodological information on each ofthese indicators, along with examples of data visualization and analytical conclusions, areprovided in the following sections.
For many of the indicators described below, the basic underlying concepts were
established by the resolution concerning statistics of work, employment and labour
underutilization adopted by the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians(ICLS) in October 2013. 14 These standards replaced those adopted in 1982, which had
been widely used by countries as a reference for producing national labour force statistics.
The updated standards introduced a number of revisions, as described in box 1, which haveimportant implications for some of the basic concepts relating to employment andunemployment.
The adoption of new standards on statistics of work, employment and labour
underutilization by countries is under way. As with any revision, the transition to the newstandards may lead to a break in the series of key labour market and related SDG indicators.
This is expected particularly in countries where a part of the population is engaged
exclusively in producing goods mainly intended for own final use, such as subsistence
agriculture and fishing. The impact will nevertheless depend on the extent to which suchactivities were previously included in national employment statistics.

14

The full text of the resolution concerning statistics of work, employment and labour
underutilization adopted by the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians, 2–11 October
2013,
isavailableat
http://www.ilo.org/global/statistics-and-databases/standards-andguidelines/resolutions-adopted-by-international-conferences-of-labourstatisticians/WCMS_230304/lang--en/index.htm.

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9Box 1Main features of the resolution concerning statistics of work, employment and labour underutilization
adopted by the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians in 2013
The new standards adopted by the 19th ICLS in 2013 have greatly expanded the scope of labour statistics
by recognizing the need to produce statistics on different forms of work, paid and unpaid, on a regular basis andby providing a common conceptual framework for this purpose.
Major features in the new standards are the inclusion of the first internationally agreed statistical definitionof “work” aligned with the general production boundary, and a framework that distinguishes different forms ofwork to support the separate production of statistics on each as needed to inform a wide range of economic,
labour market and social policies. The forms of work framework classifies all productive activities into different
forms of work based on the main intended destination of the production and the type of transaction. Five distinct
forms of work are specified: employment work, own-use production work (including production of goods andservices for own final use), volunteer work, unpaid trainee work and a residual category covering other forms ofwork such as unpaid compulsory work. While these five forms of work are mutually exclusive, persons may beengaged in one or several forms of work over a particular reference period. As a result, unlike with the previous
standards, it is possible to comprehensively capture the participation, contributions and working conditions of
persons in employment, in own-use production work and in volunteer work, as well as to examine theirinteractions.
Employment in the new standards is more narrowly defined as “work for pay or profit.” Compared to theprevious standards, this excludes activities to produce goods intended mainly for own-final use by the householdor family, organization-based volunteering, some types of direct volunteering, and unpaid trainee work, which
now form part of the new concepts of own-use production work, volunteer work and unpaid trainee work,
respectively. Employment, as more narrowly defined, continues to be the reference to classify persons of working
age by their labour force status and to produce the body of statistics on the labour force. This revision will allow
more targeted monitoring of access to employment opportunities that generate an income and inform policies
directed at employment creation.
The unemployment definition remains unchanged. However, a number of revisions to its measurement wereintroduced such as removing the option to exclude the job-search criterion in certain contexts and expanding thereference period for availability.
Most importantly, unemployment is now integrated as one of several measures of labour underutilizationthat also include time-related underemployment and the potential labour force. The latter is a newly defined groupthat captures persons not employed who express interest in the labour market but who do not fully meet thecriteria to be classified as unemployed. This includes, for example, discouraged job seekers and others who may
face a variety of personal, social or economic barriers that limit their labour market access. For dissemination
purposes, a new set of measures of labour underutilization, indicators LU1–LU4, are provided to promote morecomprehensive monitoring of changes in labour markets than the unemployment rate alone can, and to better
capture differences between urban and rural areas, women and men, youth and adults and other groups of policy
priority.
To support full measurement of unpaid forms of work, the standards introduced new statistical definitions,basic measurement guidance and headline indicators for: own-use production work, volunteer work and unpaid
trainee work.
Source: Report of the International Labour Organization on recent developments in work and employment statistics, Statistical
Commission, forty-ninth session, document E/CN.3/2018/18.

10

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2.1. Indicators under the ILO’s custodianshipof Goal 8: Promote inclusive andsustainable economic growth,
employment and decent work for all
Sustainable Development Goal 8, which advances the promotion of inclusive andsustainable economic growth, employment and decent work, deals with issues at the coreof the ILO’s mandate. Goal 8 covers a variety of topics, including those for which there
are tier I and tier II indicators, such as labour productivity, informal employment, earnings(including the gender pay gap), unemployment, youth not in education, employment or
training, child labour and occupational injuries. Table 4 lists these indicators.
Table 4.

List of tier I and II indicators for which the ILO is the sole custodian agency or one of thecustodian agencies under Goal 8

Indicator
numberIndicator title

Custodianagency/ies

Partneragency/ies

Tier

8.2.1

Annual growth rate of real GDP per employed person

ILO

World Bank,
UNSD

I

8.3.1

Proportion of informal employment in non‑agriculture employment, by
sex

ILO

II

8.5.1

Average hourly earnings of female and male employees, byoccupation, age and persons with disabilities

ILO

II

8.5.2

Unemployment rate, by sex, age and persons with disabilities

ILO

I

8.6.1

Proportion of youth (aged 15–24 years) not in education, employment
or training

ILO

I

8.7.1

Proportion and number of children aged 5–17 years engaged in childlabour, by sex and age

ILO and UNICEF

II

8.8.1

Frequency rates of fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries, by sex andmigrant status

ILO

II

2.1.1. Labour productivity
Labour productivity represents the output produced per unit of labour in a given
economy and is hence closely linked to economic growth, competitiveness and living
standards. Statistics on labour productivity provide useful information on the efficiency
and quality of human capital in the production process. 15
Its use as a global framework indicator is not new, as it was one of the MDG
indicators under Goal 1 (Eradicate poverty and hunger).
Indicator number and title: 8.2.1 Annual growth rate of real GDP per employed person
Tier: I15

For more information, see the ILOSTAT indicator description of labour productivity at
http://www.ilo.org/ilostat-files/Documents/description_PRODY_EN.pdf or the metadata sheet forindicator 8.2.1 on the SDG Indicators metadata repository at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/.

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11

Concepts and definitions
Productivity refers to the volume of output per unit of labour input. Output ismeasured in terms of GDP expressed in constant prices. 16
GDP represents the monetary value of goods and services within the System of
National Accounts (SNA) 17 production boundary produced within a country over a
specified period of time. It can be calculated using three different approaches: production,
expenditure and income. The SNA establishes that GDP is the sum of gross value addedof all resident producer units, including taxes on products not comprised in the valuationof output and excluding subsidies on products (production approach). GDP also
corresponds to the sum of the final uses of goods and services (as opposed to intermediate
consumption) measured at purchasers’ prices, less the value of imports of goods andservices (expenditure approach). GDP is also equal to the sum of primary incomes
distributed by resident producer units, that is, all wages, rents, interest and profits (income
approach).
Real GDP corresponds to GDP at constant prices, that is, the volume of GDP after
removing the effect of inflation. This facilitates comparisons across countries and overtime since it brings to light fluctuations in quantities beyond price changes.
Labour input is generally measured in terms of persons employed (where a unit oflabour corresponds to one person employed). Employment comprises all persons ofworking age who, during a short reference period (one week), were engaged in any activity
to produce goods or provide services for pay or profit. 18
However, labour input more widely refers to all persons who contribute to the
production of goods and services within the SNA production boundary, not only theemployed. In fact, according to the new standards laid out in the 2013 ICLS resolution
concerning statistics of work, employment and labour underutilization, the labour input
contributing to the GDP comprises not only employment (work done for use by others forpay or profit) but also own-use production of goods, unpaid trainee work and some formsof volunteer work as well. However, the extent to which forms of work other thanemployment are measured and accounted for in GDP depends on the national context.
Most countries limit their measurement of labour input to employment. With the adoption

16

Purchasing power parity conveys what each country’s prices would be if there was international
parity, by taking into account the impact of exchange rates; that is, it shows what each country’s
prices would be if the corresponding goods or services were sold in one common reference market(for instance, the United States).
17

For more detailed information on the United Nations System of National Accounts, visit
https://unstats.un.org/unsd/nationalaccount/sna.asp.
18

Resolution concerning statistics of work, employment and labour underutilization adopted by the
19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians, Geneva, 2–11 October 2013, available at
http://ilo.org/global/statistics-and-databases/standards-and-guidelines/resolutions-adopted-byinternational-conferences-of-labour-statisticians/WCMS_230304/lang--en/index.htm.
Itisnoteworthy that although this is the employment definition included in the latest international
standards of labour statistics, it is not yet widely implemented in practice in national datacompilations. Thus, currently available national employment statistics may refer to the former
definition of employment, which included persons engaged in the production of economic goods
and services for own and household consumption (resolution concerning statistics of theeconomically active population, employment, unemployment and underemployment, adopted by
the Thirteenth International Conference of Labour Statisticians in 1982). The new standards define
own-use production work as a separate form of work, thus excluding it from employment.

12

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of the 19th ICLS standards, countries where a part of the population engages in own-use
production of goods, particularly subsistence farming and fishing, will need to ensure
continued inclusion of this group of workers in their calculations of labour input and labour
productivity.
The annual growth rate of labour productivity refers to the percentage change inlabour productivity from one year to the next.

Calculation
Real GDP per employed person =GDP at constant prices
Total number of employed persons(where the numerator and denominator refer to the same reference period andgeographical area).
If we call the real GDP per employed person “LP”, then:Annual growth rate of real GDP per employed person =LPyear n − LPyear n−1
x 100
LPyear n−1

Sources of data at national and international levels
At the national level, the statistics used in the numerator of the labour productivity
indicator (GDP), are best derived from national accounts. This is the most reliable andcomprehensive source of information on each country’s GDP.
Regarding the employment statistics used in the denominator of the labour
productivity indicator, labour force surveys are typically the preferred source at thenational level. The employment figures derived from labour force surveys are highly
reliable given that these surveys are designed specifically for that purpose. They canpotentially cover the entire non-institutional population of a given country, all branches of
economic activity, all sectors of the economy and all categories of workers, including theself-employed, contributing family workers, casual workers and multiple jobholders,which makes them a comprehensive source of information. In addition, labour force
surveys can be easily extended to capture participation in own-use production of goods fora more complete accounting of labour input, as countries align their national practices withthe 19th ICLS standards. It is important for the source of the employment (and eventually,other types of labour input) statistics used to have a comprehensive coverage in order toensure consistency with the GDP figures, which typically refer to the whole national
economy. This implies covering participation and time-spent in employment and,depending on their relevance in the national context, in own-use production of goods,
unpaid trainee work and some forms of volunteer work,
In the absence of a labour force survey, data on employment (or all types of labour
input) can be derived from other types of household surveys (such as household income
and expenditure surveys) and population censuses. However, information from thesesources may be less reliable since it does not typically allow detailed probing of the labour
market activities of respondents. Statistics on employment can also be derived fromadministrative records for certain groups of workers.

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13

At the international level, the ILO’s central online labour statistics database,
ILOSTAT, 19 is the main source for cross-country labour productivity statistics and for
global and regional estimates. 20

Interpretation and use
A country’s economic growth, that is, the per capita growth in the value of the goods
and services it produces, can arise from a limited number of factors: the introduction of
more efficient resources, technological improvements, an increase in employment or more
efficient work by the employed. This last factor is measured by statistics on labour
productivity, which is a key measure of economic performance. Understanding the driving
forces behind labour productivity, in particular the accumulation of machinery andequipment, improvements in organization as well as physical and institutional
infrastructure, improved health and skills of workers (human capital) and the adoption of
new technology, is important for formulating policies to support economic growth. Suchpolicies may focus on industry and trade regulations, institutional innovation or
government investment programmes in infrastructure, as well as human capital,technology or any combination of these different factors.
Labour productivity estimates can support the formulation of labour market policies
and monitor their effects. For example, high labour productivity is often associated withhigh levels of human capital, indicating priorities for specific education and training
policies. Likewise, trends in productivity estimates can be used to understand the effectsof wage policies and trends on rates of inflation or to ensure that wage-related agreements
adequately compensate workers for their gains in productivity. Finally, productivity
measures can contribute to the understanding of how labour market performance affects
living standards.

Limitations
The main limitations of the use of labour productivity as a global indicator arise fromproblems in the international comparability of data, more specifically from methodologicaldifferences across countries. Even though national output measures, in particular GDP
estimates, are derived mainly from national accounts which should be based oninternationally-agreed principles consolidated in the United Nations SNA, there are still
significant obstacles to the international consistency of national accounts estimates. These
range from differences in the treatment of the output of service sectors to adjustments forprice changes and variations in the coverage of informal activities and the undergroundeconomy.
Employment or labour input figures also suffer from comparability issues, especiallyin terms of differences in age coverage, the definition of employment, geographical and

19

ILOSTAT is accessible at www.ilo.org/ilostat.

20

Global and regional estimates of labour productivity are part of the ILO Labour Force Estimatesand Projections series, which are analysed in the World Employment and Social Outlook reports
and are available at http://www.ilo.org/global/research/global-reports/weso/2017/lang-en/index.htm; for more detailed information on ILO estimates and projections of labour market
indicators, see http://www.ilo.org/empelm/projects/WCMS_114246/lang--en/index.htm.

14

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institutional coverage, the treatment of special groups 21 and the coverage of informal
employment.
In cases where the contribution to GDP of forms of work other than employment are
expected to be significant, such as in the case of own-use production of goods (subsistence
agriculture and fishing) or volunteer work, the exclusion of participation and time-spent inthese productive activities can be an important source of bias in the resulting indicators.
It is worth mentioning that statistics on labour productivity cannot be disaggregatedby sex or age or any other characteristics of individual workers since the numerator of theindicator (real GDP) refers to the country as a whole and not to individuals. However, dataon labour productivity can be disaggregated by economic activity, which may be very
useful for further analysis.

Data visualization and analysis
As shown in figure 1, labour productivity since 2001 has consistently grown faster in
middle-income economies than in high-income economies. Growth of labour productivity
accelerated in low-income economies beginning around 2004. This means that countries
with lower levels of income, which typically also have lower levels of labour productivity,
are gradually narrowing the productivity gap. Figure 1 also illustrates the effect of the
global economic crisis that started in 2008 and resulted in a sudden drop in global labour
productivity growth in 2009. The crisis affected productivity in high-income and uppermiddle income countries more deeply.
Figure 1.

Evolution of the annual growth rate of output per worker (GDP, PPP, constant 2011
international $) in the world, developed and developing regions (2000–17)

8%

6%
World
4%

High income2%

Upper-middle
incomeLower-middle
income0%

Low income-2%2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Source: ILO modelled estimates, May 2018. Based on the World Bank country classification by income level.

21This refers to specificities in the operational definitions used, such as whether persons temporarily
absent from work for specific reasons, persons on temporary layoff without pay or paid apprentices
and trainees are included in employment figures.

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15

2.1.2. Informal employment
In many countries, informal employment represents a significant part of the economy
and labour market and thus plays a major role in production, employment creation andincome generation. In the context of fragmented labour markets or where there are noadequate social safety nets (such as unemployment insurance, other social protection
benefits or family support) or where wages and/or working hours in formal jobs are low,
workers may resort to informal employment for income. In these situations, headline
labour market indicators such as the unemployment rate and time-related
underemployment fail to convey a complete picture of the labour market.
Statistics on informal employment provide valuable information on the quality of
employment and are crucial to a comprehensive understanding of the labour market. They
are highly relevant for both developing and developed countries. 22
Indicator number and title: 8.3.1 Proportion of informal employment in non‑agriculture employment, by sex
Tier: II

Concepts and definitions
Employment comprises all persons of working age who, during a short reference
period (one week), were engaged in any activity to produce goods or provide services forpay or profit. 23
Informal employment comprises persons who in their main or secondary jobs werein one of the following categories:■

Own-account workers, employers and members of producers’ cooperatives employedin their own informal sector enterprises (the characteristics of the enterprisedetermine the informal nature of their jobs);■

Contributing family workers, regardless of whether they work in formal or informal
sector enterprises (they usually do not have explicit, written contracts of employment
and are not subject to labour legislation, social security regulations, collective
agreements, etc., which determines the informal nature of their jobs);■

Employees holding informal jobs, whether employed by formal sector enterprises,
informal sector enterprises, or as paid domestic workers by households (employees
are considered to have informal jobs if their employment relationship is, in law or in

22

For more information, see the ILOSTAT indicator description of informal employment at
http://www.ilo.org/ilostat-files/Documents/description_IFL_EN.pdf or the metadata sheet forindicator 8.3.1 on the SDG Indicators metadata repository at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/.
23

Resolution concerning statistics of work, employment and labour underutilization adopted by the
19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians, Geneva, 2–11 October 2013, available at
http://ilo.org/global/statistics-and-databases/standards-and-guidelines/resolutions-adopted-byinternational-conferences-of-labour-statisticians/WCMS_230304/lang--en/index.htm.

16

Guidebook-Decent Work-[STATI-180920-1]-En.docx

practice, not subject to national labour legislation, income taxation, social protection
or entitlement to certain employment benefits); 24■

Producers of goods exclusively for own final use by their household (e.g. subsistence
farming, 25 fetching water, collecting firewood, etc.).
An enterprise belongs to the informal sector if it fulfils the three following conditions:■

It is an unincorporated enterprise (it is not constituted as a legal entity separate fromits owners, and it is owned and controlled by one or more members of one or morehouseholds, and it is not a quasi-corporation: it does not have a complete set ofaccounts, including balance sheets);■

It is a market enterprise (it sells at least some of the goods or services it produces);■

The enterprise is not registered or the employees of the enterprise are not registeredor the number of persons engaged on a continuous basis is below a thresholddetermined by the country. 26

The distinction between agricultural and non-agricultural employment is made on thebasis of the categorization of economic activities established in the latest version of theInternational Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC,
Rev.4). 27

Calculation
Proportion of informal employment in non‑agricultural employment
Informal employment in non‑agricultural activities=
x 100
Total employment in non‑agricultural activities

24

Operational criteria used by countries to define informal jobs of employees include lack ofcoverage by the social security system, lack of entitlement to paid annual or sick leave and lack ofa written employment contract.
25

Even though SDG indicator 8.3.1 refers only to informal employment in non-agriculture
employment, the measurement of informal employment covers the whole economy, including
agriculture, and the definition of informal employment is applicable to the whole economy.
26

For more detailed information on informality definitions, please refer to the resolution concerning
statistics of employment in the informal sector adopted by the Fifteenth International Conferenceof Labour Statisticians, 19–28 January 1993, available at http://ilo.org/global/statistics-anddatabases/standards-and-guidelines/resolutions-adopted-by-international-conferences-of-labourstatisticians/WCMS_087484/lang--en/index.htm; the Guidelines concerning a statistical definitionof informal employment, adopted by the Seventieth International Conference of Labour
Statisticians, 24 November–3 December 2003, available at http://ilo.org/global/statistics-anddatabases/standards-and-guidelines/guidelines-adopted-by-international-conferences-of-labourstatisticians/WCMS_087622/lang--en/index.htm; and the ILO manual Measuring informality: A
statistical manual on the informal sector and informal employment, available at
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/--publ/documents/publication/wcms_222979.pdf.
27

For more information on the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic
Activities (ISIC, Rev.4) see https://unstats.un.org/unsd/publications/catalogue?selectID=396.

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17Disaggregations desired and classifications
used for them
It is recommended that this indicator be calculated by sex in order to assess
differences between men and women in terms of the incidence of informality.
In order to calculate the proportion of informal employment in non‑agricultural
employment, it is necessary to have reliable employment statistics by economic activity so
as to use statistics on non-agricultural employment. Usually, statistics on employment by
economic activity are based on the categories established by the latest version of the ISIC
(ISIC, Rev.4).

Sources of data at national and international levels
At the national level, labour force surveys are the preferred source of information on
informal employment. However, to be able to provide the necessary information, labour
force surveys need to include questions specifically designed to capture informal
employment. Labour force surveys have the advantage of comprehensive coverage (theycan potentially cover the entire non-institutional population, all branches of economic
activity, all sectors of the economy and all categories of workers, including the selfemployed, contributing family workers, casual workers and multiple jobholders). In
addition, they measure the employed, the unemployed and persons outside the labour force
in a mutually exclusive manner, providing a coherent framework for the measurement of
the working-age population as a whole.
In the absence of a labour force survey, other types of household surveys with anappropriate module on informal employment can serve as a source of informal
employment statistics.
At the international level, the ILO’s central online labour statistics database,
ILOSTAT, 28 is the primary source for cross-country informal employment statistics. In
2018, the ILO launched Women and men in the informal economy: A statistical picture, anin-depth report on informal employment and employment in the informal sector that
includes global and regional estimates. 29

Interpretation and use
Workers in informal employment are, by definition, more vulnerable in many ways
than workers in formal employment, such as not being covered by labour legislation orsocial security systems. This vulnerability has a negative impact on working and living
conditions. It can also affect a country’s level of productivity, economic growth andpoverty since informal employment tends to be less productive and less well remunerated.
Thus, statistics on informal employment are crucial to inform policy-makers seeking
to improve labour market access and working conditions. They also provide valuable
information on the characteristics of those excluded from the formal sector and formal
jobs.

28

ILOSTAT is accessible at www.ilo.org/ilostat.

29

ILO: Women and men in the informal economy: A statistical picture, third edition (Geneva, 2018)
is available at http://www.ilo.org/global/publications/books/WCMS_626831/lang--en/index.htm.

18

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Limitations
Although some international standards do exist for the compilation of informal
employment statistics, the relevant concepts and definitions have been left relatively
flexible so as to accommodate national contexts and needs. This means that, in practice,
the operational criteria used by countries to compile data at the national level varysignificantly from country to country, hindering the international comparability ofstatistics. The comparability of informal employment statistics is also highly sensitive todifferences in the geographical areas covered, the economic activities covered and thetreatment of special groups of workers.
It is also important to note that even though SDG indicator 8.3.1 refers to the
proportion of informal employment in non-agricultural employment, the incidence of
informality in agriculture is high in some countries. Thus, in order to have a comprehensive
picture of workers’ conditions and the overall extent of informality, indicator 8.3.1 should
ideally be supplemented by other measures of informality covering employment and ownuse production work, the whole economy (agriculture and non-agriculture) and the whole
national territory (urban and rural areas). It is also informative to analyse differences inpatterns of informality between economic activities and geographical areas so as to identify
the groups of workers who are most vulnerable to informal employment.

Data visualization and analysis
In 69 per cent of countries with available data, the incidence of informal employment
in agricultural activities is higher for women than for men, suggesting that women tend to
be disproportionately engaged in informal employment and thus more likely to be in amore vulnerable situation in the labour market. However, both the incidence of informal
employment in non-agriculture and the differences between the male and female
proportions of informal employment in non-agriculture vary considerably across countries(figure 2). Also, in 76 per cent of countries with available data, more than half of thepersons employed in non-agricultural activities are in informal employment, whichindicates the wide extent of informal employment and the associated concerns regarding
poor working conditions and insufficient social protection.

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19Figure 2.

Proportion of females and males in informal employment in non‑agriculture employment(latest year available)

100%
NER

Female proportion of informal employment in non-agricultural employment

90%

NPL
BEN CODMLICIV KHMSEN
MOZ BGDGHA
LBR CMR UGA

80%
AGO
GMB

70%

ZWE
SLV
PER

60%

PRY
ECU
NAM

IDN
BOL
GTM
NIC MMR
HND
TZA
PAK
IND
YEM

COL
TLS
SWZ

50%

DOM
MUS VNM
MDV
WSM
ARG
PSE

CRI

40%

CHL
PAN
ZAF

BRA

30%

EGY

BRN
MNG

20%

ALB

URY
ARM
SRB

10%
0%
0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Male proportion of informal employment in non-agricultural employment
Source: ILOSTAT. Harmonized figures of informal employment are calculated by applying standard definitions and operational criteria. Three-digit
ISO country codes are used to identify countries.

2.1.3. Hourly earnings and pay gap
Information on the earnings that employees receive in exchange for their work is
crucial to provide an indication of their purchasing power and living standards. Earnings
are a key element of the quality of employment and give an insight into employees’
working conditions. Hourly earnings, in particular, convey valuable information about theadequacy of employees’ employment-related income since hourly data remove the effectof the number of hours worked. In addition, statistics on hourly earnings disaggregated by
sex allow the calculation of the gender pay gap, an indicator that shows the relative
difference between the average hourly earnings of men and women. Data on the

20

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remuneration of employees in specific occupations is also extremely useful for targeted
policy-making. 30
Indicator number and title: 8.5.1 Average hourly earnings of female and male employees, by occupation,
age and persons with disabilities
Tier: II

Concepts and definitions
The concept of earnings, as applied in wage statistics, relates to gross remunerationin cash and in kind paid to employees, as a rule at regular intervals, for time worked orwork done together with remuneration for time not worked, such as annual vacation, othertype of paid leave or holidays. Earnings exclude employers’ contributions in respect of
their employees paid to social security and pension schemes and also the benefits received
by employees under these schemes. Earnings also exclude severance and termination pay.
For international comparability purposes, statistics of earnings should relate to employees’
gross remuneration, i.e. the total before any deductions are made by the employer in respectof taxes, contributions of employees to social security and pension schemes, life insurance
premiums, union dues and other obligations of employees. 31
As stated in the indicator title, data on earnings should be presented on the basis of
the arithmetic average of the hourly earnings of all employees.

Calculation
The method of calculation used to obtain the average hourly earnings of employees
depends on the source of data used and the type of information it provides: for instance,
where there is information available on each worker’s hourly earnings and hours worked,
the average is a weighted average calculated by summing up the product of each worker’s
hourly earnings times the hours worked and dividing it by the total number of hours workedby all workers.
As mentioned above, statistics on average hourly earnings by sex can be used to
calculate the gender pay gap, as follows:
Gender pay gap
Average hourly earningsMen − Average hourly earningsWomen=
x 100
Average hourly earningsMen

30

For more information, see ILOSTAT’s indicator description on earnings and labour cost, at
http://www.ilo.org/ilostat-files/Documents/description_EAR_EN.pdf or the metadata sheet forindicator 8.5.1 on the SDG Indicators metadata repository at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/.
31

Resolution concerning an integrated system of wages statistics, adopted by the Twelfth
International Conference of Labour Statisticians, Geneva, 16–26 October 1973, available at
http://www.ilo.org/global/statistics-and-databases/standards-and-guidelines/resolutions-adoptedby-international-conferences-of-labour-statisticians/WCMS_087496/lang--en/index.htm.

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21

Disaggregations desired and classifications
used for them
It is recommended to have statistics on hourly earnings by sex, age, occupation anddisability status. To the extent possible (and especially as much as statistical reliability
permits), it would be desirable to have these disaggregations simultaneously to allow
cross-tabulations. This is crucial to assess differences in hourly earnings for a given
occupation on the basis of gender, age group or being disabled.
The age groups used to disaggregate statistics by age can vary (5-year or 10-year age
bands, for instance) but they should always at the very least ensure a distinction between
youth (ages 15 to 24) and adults (ages 25 and over).
Statistics by occupation are usually presented according to the latest version of theInternational Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-08). 32
Statistics presented by disability status should be based on the World HealthOrganization (WHO) International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health(ICF), 33 according to which disability covers impairments (problems in body function or
structure such as a significant deviation or loss), activity limitations (difficulties in
executing activities) and participation restrictions (problems in involvement in life
situations). For measurement purposes, the ICF defines a person with disability as a person
who is limited in the kind or amount of activities that he or she can do because of ongoingdifficulties due to a long-term physical condition, mental condition or health problem.

Sources of data at national and international levels
Statistics on earnings can come from a variety of sources, each of them presenting
advantages and disadvantages.
Perhaps the most common source is establishment surveys, which collect information
on workers directly from their employers (establishments that employ workers). In their
payroll or records, establishments usually have accurate data on all wages paid and thecorresponding working hours, which means that establishment surveys are a very reliable
source of earnings data. However, establishment surveys tend to exclude from their sample
certain types of establishments and economic activities, rarely covering very small
establishments and informal sector establishments. Hence, the earnings statistics derived
from establishment surveys may not be comprehensive or representative of all workers.
Household surveys such as labour force surveys can also serve as sources of data on
earnings. They are a good alternative in that they cover all employees, regardless of theirstatus in employment, economic activity and formal/informal sector. Nevertheless,methodologies for the measurement of earnings vary more across countries for household
surveys than for establishment surveys, which hinders international comparability. Also,
the reliability of earnings statistics from household surveys depends heavily on theaccuracy of the respondent.

32

For more detailed information on the latest version of the International Standard Classification of
Occupations (ISCO-08), see http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/stat/isco/isco08/.
33

For more information on the WHO International Classification of Functioning, Disability and
Health, see http://www.who.int/classifications/icf/en/.

22

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In the absence of establishment or household surveys, administrative records such associal security records can provide earnings data as well. It is also possible to combine
several primary sources to produce a consolidated earnings series, or to resort to national
accounts for the desired earnings statistics (when compensation of employees isdisaggregated into its two major components – wages and social contributions made byemployers).

Interpretation and use
Statistics on earnings provide crucial information on the level of employment-related
income and purchasing power of employees. They represent a valuable indicator of thequality of employment and workers’ standard of living. The study of trends in employees’
earnings brings to light the extent to which working conditions have improved ordeteriorated over time.
Although there is not a standard recommended ratio between minimum wages andaverage wages, statistics on average earnings can inform policy-makers in the process ofsetting or revising minimum wages. Also, collective bargaining conducted between
workers’ organizations and the corresponding employer or employers’ organizations needs
reliable earnings statistics to support negotiations.
Earnings statistics should be interpreted along with other labour market andmacroeconomic indicators, such as employment, productivity, economic growth andconsumption, to build a comprehensive picture of workers’ situation in the economy. The
joint analysis of these different indicators can illustrate the extent to which economic
growth and labour productivity translates into gains for workers. As workers use theirearnings either for the consumption of goods and services or to increase their savings,
earnings are an important determinant of aggregate demand.
It is also particularly interesting to analyse earnings statistics disaggregated by allclassifications available and to interpret the differences observed in order to understandwhether some population groups (based on their gender, age or disability status, forinstance) are receiving significantly higher or lower earnings. For such analysis, it isimportant to have reliable statistics on hourly earnings by occupation, so as to compare
earnings of different population groups for the same occupation and working time, making
the comparison more accurate and revealing.

Limitations
Earnings statistics present a number of complications in terms of their international
comparability, most of which arise from the variety of possible sources of data. The various
sources available mentioned above (establishment surveys, household surveys andadministrative records) differ in their methods, objectives and scope, which influences theresults obtained. The coverage of the source may vary in terms of the geographical areas
covered, the workers covered (for example, part-time workers or informal workers may be
excluded) and the establishments covered (for example, establishments below a certain
size or of a certain sector may be excluded). In cases where the earnings of workers
excluded from the coverage of the source are significantly different than those of workers
included, the statistics would not be representative of the country as a whole and would
not be strictly comparable to those of countries using a more comprehensive source.
When using household surveys as a source of earnings statistics, there are a number
of issues related to the accuracy of the earnings information reported by the respondents.
They may over declare or under declare their earnings for various reasons, or they may

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23

report gross or net wages while including or excluding bonuses and benefits, without
distinction. This naturally affects the reliability of the results.

Data visualization and analysis
Figure 3 presents the gender pay gap (the relative difference between male and female
employees’ earnings, expressed as the percentage of male employees’ earnings) by
occupation, based on the categories established in the ISCO-08. We observe that in only
11 per cent of countries with available data, female hourly earnings are on average higher
than male hourly earnings. When looking at the differences by occupation, we see that thepatterns of the gender pay gap are not the same for all occupations. In fact, in 85 per centof countries with available data, the gender pay gap is higher for managers than for all
occupations together. Comparing the gender pay gap for all workers irrespective of theiroccupation, in 77 per cent of countries with available data the gender pay gap is higher forcraft and related trades workers, in 73 per cent it is higher for professionals and fortechnicians and associate professionals, in 49 per cent it is higher for service and sales
workers, in 48 per cent it is higher for plant and machine operators and assemblers, in 33
per cent it is higher for elementary occupations, in 31 per cent it is higher for skilled
agricultural, forestry and fishery workers and only in 27 per cent is it higher for clericalsupport workers. This means that, on average, in most countries studied, women are
remunerated less than men per hour worked (leaving aside the differences in working timeof men and women). This difference in hourly earnings is greater for occupations requiringa high skill level (managers, professionals and technicians and associate professionals) andfor craft and related trade occupations. The relative working conditions of women are thus
particularly poor in these occupations, where they are remunerated, on average, less thantheir male colleagues, to an extent exceeding the earnings differences suffered by thefemale workforce on average.

24

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Figure 3.

Gender pay gap by occupation, based on average hourly earnings of employees (latest year available)

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

EST

KOR

RUS

AUT

DEU

CZE

PER

GBR

LVA

SVK

CHE

ISL

FIN

NLD

BRA

ISR

DNK

FRA

HUN

GRC

BGR

NOR

IRL

CYP

LTU

SWE

ESP

ECU

PRT

MLT

SRB

MKD

URY

POL

MNE

VNM

SVN

DOM

BEL

MEX

ITA

BOL

LUX

TUR

ROU

NIC

PAN

GTM

PRY

COL

MYS

ARG

CRI

SLV

HND

0%

-10%

-20%

-30%
Total
Technicians and associate professionals
Craft and related trades workers
Plant and machine operators, and assemblers

Managers
Clerical support workers
Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers

Professionals
Service and sales workers
Elementary occupations

Source: ILOSTAT. Three-digit ISO country codes are used to identify countries.

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25

2.1.4. Unemployment rate
The unemployment rate is a major headline labour market indicator, widely used andrecognized as one of the main labour market measures. It conveys information on the
proportion of the labour force that is unemployed, providing insights into theunderutilization of the labour supply. Yet, it is important to note that the unemployment rate
alone does not convey a full picture of labour underutilization, which can also be foundamong the employed (time-related underemployment) and among persons outside the labour
force (the potential labour force). The unemployment rate reflects the inability of an
economy to generate employment for those who are looking for a job but cannot find one
despite being available to take up work. It is thus an indicator of the efficiency andeffectiveness of an economy to absorb its labour force and of the performance of the labour
market. 34
Indicator number and title: 8.5.2 Unemployment rate, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
Tier: I

Concepts and definitions
The unemployment rate is calculated as the proportion of persons in the labour force
who are unemployed.
Unemployment comprises all persons of working age who were not in employment
during a short reference period, had carried out activities to seek employment during a
specified recent period and were currently available to take up employment if a job
opportunity presented itself. Unemployment also includes future starters (persons not in
employment and currently available who did not seek employment because they had alreadymade arrangements to start a job within a short subsequent period); participants in skills
training or retraining schemes within employment promotion programmes, who on that basis
were not in employment, not currently available and did not seek employment because they
had a job offer to start within a short subsequent period; and persons not in employment who
carried out activities to migrate abroad in order to work for pay or profit but who were still
waiting for the opportunity to leave.
Employment comprises all persons of working age who, during a short reference period(one week), were engaged in any activity to produce goods or provide services for pay or
profit.
The labour force corresponds to the sum of all persons employed and all persons
unemployed. 35

34

For more information, see the ILOSTAT indicator description of the unemployment rate, at
http://www.ilo.org/ilostat-files/Documents/description_UR_EN.pdf or the metadata sheet forindicator 8.5.2 on the SDG Indicators metadata repository, at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/.
35

Resolution concerning statistics of work, employment and labour underutilization adopted by the
19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians, Geneva, 2–11 October 2013, available at
http://ilo.org/global/statistics-and-databases/standards-and-guidelines/resolutions-adopted-byinternational-conferences-of-labour-statisticians/WCMS_230304/lang--en/index.htm.

26

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Calculation
Unemployment rate =Unemployment rate =Total unemployment
x 100
Labour force

Total unemployment
x 100
Total employment + total unemployment

Disaggregations desired and classifications
used for them
It is recommended that this indicator be calculated by sex, age and persons withdisability. As much as possible, these disaggregations should be simultaneous, that is,allowing cross-tabulations to assess the cumulative effect of differences by gender, age anddisability status.
The age groups used to disaggregate the statistics by age can vary (5-year or 10-year
age bands, for instance) but they should always at the very least allow a distinction between
youth (ages 15 to 24) and adults (ages 25 and over).
Statistics presented by disability status should be based on the WHO International
Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) 36 according to which disability
covers impairments (problems in body function or structure such as a significant deviation
or loss), activity limitations (difficulties in executing activities) and participation restrictions(problems in involvement in life situations). For measurement purposes, the ICF defines aperson with disability as a person who is limited in the kind or amount of activities that heor she can do because of ongoing difficulties due to a long-term physical condition, mental
condition or health problem.

Sources of data at national and international levels
At the national level, labour force surveys are the preferred source of data on
unemployment. They have a comprehensive coverage, potentially covering the entire noninstitutional population, and allow the reliable identification of unemployed persons thanks
to specific questions on job search and availability. In addition to this, they measure theemployed, the unemployed and persons outside the labour force simultaneously, providing
a coherent framework for the measurement of the working-age population as a whole.
In the absence of a labour force survey, other types of household surveys or evenpopulation censuses can be used as sources of data on unemployment. However,
unemployment data from such sources tends to be less reliable since the questionnaires used
as collection instruments include fewer and less detailed questions for the identification of
the unemployed.
It is important to note that, even though statistics on unemployment can be derived fromadministrative records (most notably employment office records or unemployment insurance
records), these refer to registered unemployment or beneficiaries of unemployment
insurance and are in no way comparable to statistics based on the three criteria describedabove (persons not in employment, seeking employment and available for employment).
Even where such records do ensure that persons counted as unemployed are not in
employment, available for employment and actively seeking employment, the requirements

36

For more information on the WHO International Classification of Functioning, Disability and
Health, see http://www.who.int/classifications/icf/en/.

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27

for those persons to enrol in or benefit from the insurance scheme lead to a bias in thereference population.
At the international level, the ILO’s central online labour statistics database,
ILOSTAT, 37 is the main source for cross-country statistics on unemployment, as well as for
global and regional estimates. 38

Interpretation and use
The unemployment rate is a well-known and widely used labour market indicator thatserves as a measure of the unutilized labour supply and labour market pressure, providing
an indication of an economy’s ability to generate jobs for those persons who are not in
employment but are available and actively seeking employment. It is an indicator of theefficiency and effectiveness of an economy to absorb its labour force and of the performanceof the labour market.
The labour force is made up of employment and unemployment, so the share ofunemployment in the labour force (the unemployment rate) provides some indication of theeconomy’s ability to generate enough jobs for all persons of working age (actively) seeking
employment and the inclusiveness of the labour market.
Unemployment rates for specific population groups (by sex, age or disability status, forinstance) are of particular interest to identify particular areas of concern and the groups thatare most vulnerable to joblessness. The unemployment rate is also a useful measure to track
business cycles.
It is important to note that, although the unemployment rate is a useful labour market
indicator, it is an insufficient measure of labour underutilization and therefore should always
be analysed together with other labour underutilization indicators (such as the time-related
underemployment rate and the potential labour force) 39 and indicators of the quality of
employment (such as the share of informal employment and earnings). Otherwise, wheninterpreted alone, the unemployment rate may provide a distorted view of the labour market.

Limitations
In most developed economies, the unemployment rate remains a highly useful andrevealing indicator of labour market performance and a reliable measure of labour
underutilization. However, in other contexts, particularly in many developing countries, its
usefulness can be questioned. In the absence of unemployment insurance systems or social
safety nets, persons of working age must avoid unemployment, resorting to any type of workor employment even if it is inadequate. Moreover, without proper networks or systems in

37

ILOSTAT is accessible at www.ilo.org/ilostat.

38

Global and regional estimates of unemployment are part of the ILO Labour Force Estimates andProjections series, which are analysed in the World Employment and Social Outlook reports and areavailable at http://www.ilo.org/global/research/global-reports/weso/2017/lang--en/index.htm. For
more detailed information on ILO estimates and projections of labour market indicators, see
http://www.ilo.org/empelm/projects/WCMS_114246/lang--en/index.htm.
39

The 2013 ICLS resolution concerning statistics of work, employment and labour underutilization
advocates for the use of four labour underutilization indicators: the unemployment rate (LU1), thecombined rate of time-related underemployment and unemployment (LU2), the combined rate ofunemployment and potential labour force (LU3) and the composite measure of labour underutilization(LU4).

28

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place to advertise vacancies and facilitate the job search, the unemployed can become
discouraged and quit looking for employment, thus exiting the labour force and joining
persons outside the labour force. In such contexts, it is necessary to supplement the
unemployment rate with other measures of labour underutilization, such as time-related
underemployment and potential labour force indicators, in order to assess labour
underutilization in a more comprehensive manner. The 19th ICLS resolution on work
statistics has recommended that more than one headline labour underutilization indicator beused to better reflect better labour underutilization in different economic contexts.
It is important to understand that the unemployment rate, despite being a useful labour
market indicator, simply reflects the share of the labour force that does not have a job but isavailable and actively seeking, and does not by itself convey any information on theeconomic resources or living conditions of the unemployed. In addition, even though it
provides some information on labour underutilization, it is an insufficient measure if theobjective is to assess overall labour underutilization. Particularly in contexts where there areno social safety nets (unemployment insurance, family support, etc.), it often happens that
individuals cannot afford to be unemployed and are thus obliged to resort to any type ofwork even if it is informal employment, part-time employment or a job with inadequate
earnings. In such cases, low unemployment rates may be hiding other forms of labour
underutilization (for instance, time-related underemployment, low-income employment, low
productivity and working poverty) and should thus be interpreted alongside other labour
market indicators to ensure a comprehensive picture of the labour market situation. 40
Regarding the international comparability of unemployment rates, there are a number
of issues that adversely affect comparability. Differences in the questionnaires used in thehousehold surveys as the basic measurement tool may entail differences in specificdefinitions of employment and unemployment, differences in the treatment of specificgroups or differences in the operational criteria used to determine the individual’s labour
force status.
The unemployment rate is, in some contexts, very sensitive to seasonality, so that the
number of observations available each year can have an impact on the results and theircomparability. The unemployment rate is also dependent on the geographical coverage ofthe survey since urban and rural areas tend to have significant differences in the incidenceof unemployment. It is important to note that unemployment indicators do not convey any
information on the characteristics of the unemployed (their education level, ethnic origin,socio-economic background, work experience, duration of unemployment, etc.), which is
crucial to cast light on labour market failures.
The unemployment rate can also refer to either cyclical, short-term unemployment or
structural, long-term unemployment, but this distinction is not reflected in the aggregate
measure. This information is crucial for policy-makers to bear in mind in formulating
appropriate policy responses.

Data visualization and analysis
As figure 4 shows, the global unemployment rate experienced a slow but steady decline
from the beginning of the 2000s for women and men, youth and adults alike. This decrease
was abruptly interrupted in 2008, due to the global economic crisis, when unemployment40

For more information on labour underutilization, refer to ILO: Beyond unemployment:
Measurement of other forms of labour underutilization, 18th International Conference of Labour
Statisticians, Geneva, 24 November–5 December 2008, room document 13; available at
http://www.ilo.org/global/statistics-and-databases/meetings-and-events/international-conference-oflabour-statisticians/WCMS_100652/lang--en/index.htm.

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29

rates across all major demographic groups suddenly and significantly increased until around2010. In that year, a gradual recovery commenced at the global level, reflected in slightly
declining trends in total, male, female, youth and adult unemployment rates. Since 2015, theunemployment rate has changed little overall, with a modest upward trend observed among
youth.
Women in the labour force are more likely to be unemployed than their malecounterparts in all regions, since the female unemployment rate was higher than the male
unemployment rate in 2017 in all regions (figure 5).
The situation of youth in the labour market is particularly alarming because the global
youth unemployment rate is persistently about three times higher than that of adults. In all
regions, the youth unemployment rate is more than twice the adult unemployment rate. The
difference is the most striking in the Arab States, where youth are more than four times as
likely to be unemployed than adults (figure 5).
Figure 4.

Global unemployment rates by sex and main age groups (2000–16)

14%
12%
10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Total

Male

FemaleYouthAdults

Source: ILO modelled estimates, May 2018.

30

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Figure 5.

Unemployment rates by sex and main age groups for the world, developed and developing
regions (2017)

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
World

AfricaMale

AmericasFemaleYouthArab States
Adult

Asia and thePacific

Europe andCentral Asia

Total

Source: ILO modelled estimates, May 2018. Based on ILO regional classification.

2.1.5. Youth NEET rate
The proportion of young people not in education, employment or training (also known
as “the youth NEET rate”) indicator conveys the number of young persons who are not in
education, employment or training as a percentage of the total youth population. It provides
a measure of youth who are outside the educational system, not in training and not in
employment, and in so doing serves as a broader measure of potential youth labour market
entrants than youth unemployment. It is also a better measure of the lost potential for humanresource development than the youth inactivity rate, because the latter includes youth whoare not in the labour force and are in education and are therefore still acquiring or furtheringskills. In short, the youth NEET rate refers to all young persons who are either unemployedor outside the labour force and who are not in education or training, thus excluding young
persons who are employed (whether in education or training or not) or unemployed oroutside the labour force but in education or training 41
Indicator number and title: 8.6.1 Proportion of youth (aged 15–24 years) not in education, employment or
training
Tier: I41

For more information, see the ILOSTAT indicator description of the youth NEET rate at
http://www.ilo.org/ilostat-files/Documents/description_NEET_EN.pdf or the metadata sheet forindicator 8.6.1 on the SDG Indicators metadata repository at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/.

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31

Concepts and definitions
For the purpose of this indicator, youth is defined as all persons aged from 15 to 24(inclusive).
According to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), 42
education is defined as organized and sustained communication designed to bring about
learning. Formal education is defined in ISCED as education that is institutionalized,
intentional, and planned through public organizations and recognized private bodies and, in
its totality, makes up the formal education system of a country. Non-formal education, likeformal education is defined in ISCED as education that is institutionalized, intentional andplanned by an education provider but is considered an addition, alternative and/or acomplement to formal education. It may be short in duration and/or low in intensity and it istypically provided in the form of short courses, workshops or seminars. Informal learning isdefined in ISCED as forms of learning that are intentional or deliberate, but notinstitutionalized. It is thus less organized and less structured than either formal or non-formal
education. Informal learning may include learning activities that occur in the family, in thework place, in the local community, and in daily life, on a self-directed, family-directed orsocially-directed basis. For the purposes of this indicator, persons will be considered in
education if they are in formal or non-formal education, as described above, but not if they
are in informal learning alone.
Employment comprises all persons of working age who, during a short reference period(one week), were engaged in any activity to produce goods or provide services for pay or
profit. 43
Persons are considered to be in training if they are in a non-academic learning activity
through which they acquire specific skills intended for vocational or technical jobs.
Vocational training prepares trainees for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities,
and for skilled operative jobs, both blue and white collar related to a specific trade,occupation or vocation. Technical training on the other hand imparts learning that can beapplied in intermediate-level jobs, in particular those of technicians and middle managers.
The coverage of vocational and technical training includes only programmes that are solely
school-based vocational and technical training.

Calculation
The youth NEET rate is calculated as follows:
NEET rate
Youth – Youth in employment – Youth not in employment but in Ed or Tr
=
x 100
Youth

42

For more information on the latest version of the International Standard Classification of Education(ISCED-2011),
see
http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/international-standardclassification-of-education-isced-2011-en.pdf.
43

Resolution concerning statistics of work, employment and labour underutilization adopted by the
19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians, Geneva, 2–11 October 2013, available at
http://ilo.org/global/statistics-and-databases/standards-and-guidelines/resolutions-adopted-byinternational-conferences-of-labour-statisticians/WCMS_230304/lang--en/index.htm.

32

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It is crucial to highlight that youth who are in both employment and education ortraining simultaneously should not be double-counted when subtracted from the total
number of youth.
An alternative way of calculating the youth NEET rate is as follows:
NEET rate =(Unemployed youth + Youth OLF) –(Unemployed youth in Ed or Tr+ Youth OLF in Ed or Tr)
Youth

x 100

(where “Ed” means education, “Tr” training and “OLF” outside the labour force)

Disaggregations desired and classifications
used for them
There are no disaggregations specifically required for this indicator. However, it isstrongly advisable to provide information disaggregated by sex.
It is important to note that, although the indicator title does not specifically call for
disaggregation, the overarching principle of data disaggregation of the global indicator
framework implies that SDG indicators should be disaggregated, where relevant, by income,sex, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability and geographical location, or othercharacteristics, in accordance with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics. 44

Sources of data at national and international levels
At the national level, labour force surveys are the preferred source of statistics on the
proportion of youth not in employment, education or training, since they allow information
to be gathered simultaneously on both the labour market situation of individuals and their
participation in education or training programmes. Such surveys can be designed to covervirtually the entire non-institutional population of a given country, all branches of economic
activity, all sectors of the economy and all categories of workers, including the selfemployed, contributing family workers, casual workers and multiple jobholders. In addition,such surveys generally provide an opportunity for the simultaneous measurement of theemployed, the unemployed and persons outside the labour force (i.e., the working-age
population) in a coherent framework. This means that both the numerator and thedenominator of the youth NEET rate can be derived from a labour force survey, ensuringconsistency between the two measures. It is worth noting that for the above to be true, thequestionnaires used for data collection in the labour force survey must include sufficiently
detailed questions to determine youth’s enrolment in education and participation in training.
In the absence of a labour force survey, other types of household surveys and population
censuses can also serve as sources of information on the youth NEET rate. Nevertheless, theinformation obtained from such sources may be less reliable since they do not typically allow
detailed probing into the labour market activities of respondents or their participation in
education or training.
At the international level, the ILO’s central online labour statistics database,
ILOSTAT, 45 is the main source for cross-country statistics on the youth NEET rate.

44

https://unstats.un.org/unsd/dnss/gp/fundprinciples.aspx.

45

ILOSTAT is accessible at www.ilo.org/ilostat.

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33

Unfortunately, no global or regional estimates of the youth NEET rate are available at thisstage.

Interpretation and use
The youth NEET rate is a broad measure of the underutilization of youth who could
potentially contribute to national development and growth through their work or byfurthering their qualifications in education. The youth NEET group is neither improving
their future employability through investment in skills nor gaining experience throughemployment, so it is particularly at risk of both labour market and social exclusion. This is
all the more worrying given the long-lasting effects that the first years of employment haveon the rest of an individual’s career.
In view of the fact that the youth NEET group includes unemployed youth as well as
youth outside the labour force, the youth NEET rate provides important complementary
information to labour force participation rates and unemployment rates. For example, ifyouth participation rates decrease during an economic downturn due to discouragement, thismay be reflected in an upward movement in the youth NEET rate. More generally, a highyouth NEET rate and a low youth unemployment rate may indicate significant
discouragement of young people. A high youth NEET rate for young women may alsosuggest their engagement in household chores, child-rearing, and/or the presence of strong
institutional barriers limiting female participation in labour markets.
In terms of analysis, in order to avoid misinterpretation it is important to bear in mind
that this indicator is composed of two different subgroups: unemployed youth who are notin education or training; and youth outside the labour force who are not in education ortraining. The prevalence and composition of each subgroup has policy implications thatshould also be considered when analysing the youth NEET rate.

Limitations
A number of factors can limit the comparability of statistics on the youth NEET rate
across countries or over time. When they differ from international standards, the operational
criteria used to define employment and participation in education or training will naturally
affect the comparability of the resulting statistics, as will the coverage of the source ofstatistics (geographical coverage, population coverage, age coverage, etc.).
As mentioned previously, youth NEET rates are preferably calculated for youth definedas persons aged 15 to 24, but it is important to keep in mind, when studying these rates, that
not all persons complete their education by the age of 24. Hence, depending on the context,
it may also be crucial to compile and analyse data on the youth NEET rates of persons aged
25 to 29 in order to have a fuller picture of the situation of all youth in the labour market.
Although it can provide a useful indication of youth labour market and education
exclusion, the youth NEET rate conveys no information on the relative importance of thetwo subgroups it includes. Thus, policy-makers basing their policy formulations on data on
the youth NEET rate should complement it with information that allows them to determine
whether the problem is that youth not in education or training are struggling to find jobs orwhether the problem is that they remain outside the labour force.

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Data visualization and analysis 46
Youth were badly affected by the global economic crisis. Across all countries withavailable data for 2009 and 2015, there has not been a clear trend in the share of youth notin education, employment or training. Overall, this share has decreased between 2009 and2015 in 57 per cent of countries with available data (figure 6). The high share of youth notin employment, education or training in 2015 is widespread: in more than three quarters ofcountries with available data, more than one tenth of the youth population is neither in the
educational system nor has a job.
Figure 6.

Proportion of youth not in education, employment or training, ages 15 to 24 (2009 and 2015)

45%
HND
40%

35%
TUR

ISR

30%

SLV

2015

MDA
25%

PSE
MKD
IDN

PHL
LKA
DOM
SRB

20%
ESP
KGZ
PRY
EST

15%

RUS
ROU
HUN
HRV
GBR
FRA
SVK
GRC
LTU
CHL AUS
PRT
BEL
CAN
CYP
MLT
FIN
SWE
DEU
CZE
AUT
HKG
MACSVNISLCHEDNK LUX
NOR
JPN
NLD

10%

5%

CRI
BGR
IRLSAUBRAMEX

DZA

COL
URY
PAN

ITA
PER
NZL
THA

LVA

POL

0%
0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

2009
Source: ILOSTAT. Three-digit ISO country codes are used to identify countries.

Although SDG global indicator 8.6.1 does not explicitly call for the disaggregation ofdata by sex, it is interesting to study the patterns of the male and female youth separately. In
nearly 70 per cent of countries with available data, the share of youth who are not employed
and not furthering their education is higher for women than for men, reflecting thevulnerability of young women in the labour market (figure 7).

46

Analytical paragraphs and graphs submitted by the ILO to UNSD as inputs to the 2017 SDG reports.

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35

Figure 7.

Proportion of youth not in education, employment or training for males and females, ages 15
to 24 (latest year available after 2008)

60%

TTO

IND
50%
IRN
SLV
TZA

40%

Female

LKA
EGY

PSE

TUR
ZAF
MEX
DZA
ALB
IDN
QAT
COL
KGZ
PHL
REU
DOM
PER
BIH
SAU
VEN
BRA
MDA
CRI
MKD
ECU
URY
ROU
UKR BGR ITAPRY
SRBGTM
THA
USA
GRC
CHL
MYSMLI ISRCMR SGPABW HRVESP
RUS SVK CYP
BLR
IRL
NZL
HUN
EST
MOZ
GBR
PRT
BEL
LVA
AUSFRA
MLT
POL
KHM
BLZ
FIN
CAN
CZE LTU
SVN
UGA
MNE
AUT
DEU
HKG
CHE
SWE
DNK
LUXBMU
MAC
BEN
NOR
JPN
NLD
FLK
ISL
MNG

30%

20%

10%

0%
0%

10%

20%

30%

ARM

PAN

40%

50%

60%

Male
Source: ILOSTAT. Three-digit ISO country codes are used to identify countries.

2.1.6. Child labour
Children in employment may be seen in some cases as a positive way to facilitate an
early inclusion in the labour market and gain work experience. However, not all employmentof children is desirable or even acceptable: a large proportion of children in employment are
actually in child labour (a subcategory of employment targeted for eradication). The fact thatmany children around the world are in child labour is a major concern given its adverse,
long-lasting effects on the affected children themselves as well as on communities andsocieties. The prevalence of child labour reflects insufficient development and thepersistence of poverty. The time spent by children in labour is time they are not spending onenriching activities typically associated with childhood, such as education, socialization andleisure, intended to develop their human and social capital. Child labour is clearly a type ofwork that should be abolished, together with forced labour. 47 Statistical information on the47

As stated in the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, available at
http://ilo.org/declaration/thedeclaration/textdeclaration/lang--en/index.htm.

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number and proportion of children subject to the hardships of child labour is crucial tounderstand the scope of the issue, to inform policy formulation and to assess the results ofpolicies implemented. 48
Indicator number and title: 8.7.1 Proportion and number of children aged 5‑17 years engaged in childlabour, by sex and age
Tier: II

Concepts and definitions
All the relevant definitions pertaining to the statistical measurement of child labour
presented below are taken from the resolution concerning statistics of child labour, adopted
by the 18th International Conference of Labour Statisticians in 2008. 49
Children are defined as all persons under the age of 18. However, for the purposes ofinternational comparability and measurement of this indicator, children are restricted to all
persons of ages 5 to 17 (inclusive).
Broadly speaking, children can potentially be involved in different types of productive
activities and under various working conditions. Children in productive activities refer to all
the children participating in some way in the production of goods or services within thegeneral production boundary as defined in the SNA. 50 Children in productive activities
comprise children in employment and children in other productive activities.
Children in employment include all those children who are engaged in any activity
falling within the SNA production boundary for at least one hour during the reference period.
This represents three different groups of children: (a) children in child labour within the SNA
production boundary; (b) children aged 12 to 14 years in permissible light work; and (c)persons aged 15 to 17 engaged in work not designated as one of the worst forms of childlabour.
Child labour comprises all children engaged in prohibited work or types of work thatshould be eliminated given that they are injurious, negative or socially or morally
undesirable according to national and international standards. Child labour also comprises
all children engaged in hazardous work, all children engaged in the worst forms of childlabour other than hazardous work and all children in employment below the minimum
working age, excluding, where applicable, light work performed by children over the age of
13 (or 12 for countries defining the working age population as persons aged 14 and above
instead of the commonly used 15 and above). Where productive activities are measured
based on the general production boundary instead of the SNA production boundary, child48

For more information see the metadata sheet for indicator 8.7.1 on the SDG Indicators metadata
repository, at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/ or Decent Work Indicators: Guidelines for
producers and users of statistical and legal framework indicators: ILO Manual, available at
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/--integration/documents/publication/wcms_229374.pdf.
49

For more information on the statistical definitions used to measure child labour refer to theresolution concerning statistics of child labour, at http://ilo.org/global/statistics-anddatabases/standards-and-guidelines/resolutions-adopted-by-international-conferences-of-labourstatisticians/WCMS_112458/lang--en/index.htm.
50

For more detailed information on the United Nations System of National Accounts, visit
https://unstats.un.org/unsd/nationalaccount/sna.asp.

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37

labour also includes children engaged in hazardous unpaid household services (this should
however be duly noted in the metadata and in the indicator denomination). For measurement
purposes, the number of children in child labour corresponds to the number of children
reported to be in child labour during the reference period.
The worst forms of child labour comprise: (a) all forms of slavery or practices similar
to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom, as well as
forced or compulsory labour, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use
in armed conflict; (b) the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the
production of pornography or for pornographic performances; (c) the use, procuring oroffering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs
as defined in relevant international treaties; and (d) work which, by its nature or thecircumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals ofchildren. The latter category is referred to as hazardous work.
Hazardous work comprises: (a) work which exposes children to physical, psychologicalor sexual abuse; (b) work underground, under water, at dangerous heights or in confined
spaces; (c) work with dangerous machinery, equipment and tools, or which involves the
manual handling or transport of heavy loads; (d) work in an unhealthy environment whichmay, for example, expose children to hazardous substances, agents or processes, or totemperatures, noise levels or vibrations damaging to their health; and (e) work underparticularly difficult conditions, such as work for long hours or during the night or workwhere the child is unreasonably confined to the premises of the employer. 51
Based on these definitions established in the resolution concerning statistics of childlabour, the methodology underlying the ILO global estimates on child labour classifies childlabour into the following three categories: (a) children aged 5 to 11 carrying out at least one
hour of economic activity per week; children aged 12 to 14 carrying out at least 14 hours of
economic activity per week in all forms of economic activity except for permissible lightwork (defined for operational purposes as economic activity of 14 hours a week or less andthat is not hazardous in nature); and persons aged 15 to 17 engaged in work in designatedhazardous industries or occupations or for long hours (defined for operational purposes as
43 or more hours during the reference week).

Calculation
The proportion of children in child labour is calculated as follows:
Porportion of children in child labour
Number of children reported to be in child labour=
x 100
Total number of children

51

For more information on the legal framework and legal definitions guiding the statistical definitionsof child labour, refer to the ILO Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) and the ILO Worst Formsof
Child
LabourConvention,
1999
(No.
182),
both
availableathttps://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=1000:12000:::NO; and the United Nations Convention on
the Rights of the Child, available at https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx.

38

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Disaggregations desired and classifications
used for them
The number and proportion of children in child labour should be available
disaggregated by sex, and also separately for the different age subgroups making up thechild-age band (for instance, using the two age sub-bands 5 to 14 and 15 to 17).

Sources of data at national and international levels
The main sources of data on child labour are household surveys with a child labour
module, such as labour force surveys, multipurpose household surveys, United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF)-supported Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS),
demographic and health surveys, the ILO-supported Statistical Information and Monitoring
Programme on Child Labour (SIMPOC) and World Bank Living Standard Measurement
Surveys (LSMS).

Interpretation and use
Having reliable measures of child labour is crucial to assess its incidence, distribution
and characteristics. This information serves to inform policy formulation and to monitor the
results obtained. Timely statistics on child labour, by indicating the need for appropriate
legal or regulatory frameworks, allow governments and policy-makers to set priorities andguide their actions accordingly. Since every child counts, it is recommended for thisindicator to produce both proportions and numbers; in some countries, proportions may be
low even if there are still significant numbers of children in child labour.

Limitations
Since the concept of child labour is much more a legal concept than a statistical one, it
is highly dependent on each country’s national legal framework. Even though for thestatistical measurement of child labour some international statistical standards have been set,
the underlying basis of any child labour estimates remains national legislation, regulations
and priorities, which affects the international comparability of the data.
In addition, even when using the standard definitions agreed at the international level,countries may choose different operational criteria in their measurement instruments, whichfurther hinders data comparability.

Data visualization and analysis
In 2016, almost 14 per cent of all children in the world were in employment. Morespecifically, almost 10 per cent of all children were engaged in child labour and about 5 percent were engaged in hazardous work. This means that, on average in the world, 1 child outof 10 is suffering the hardships of child labour. The situation is particularly alarming in
Africa, where almost 20 per cent of children are in labour and almost 9 per cent are inhazardous work. It is also striking that in Europe and Central Asia, 4.1 per cent of children
are in labour and 4 per cent are in hazardous work, the smallest gap observed between thechild labour share and the child hazardous work share. In other words, in Europe and Central
Asia, nearly all children who are engaged in labour are engaged in hazardous work (figure 8).

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39

Figure 8.

Proportion of children in employment, labour and hazardous work, by region (2016)

30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%

0%
World

AfricaChildren in employment

Asia and thePacific

AmericasChildren in labour

Europe andCentral Asia

Arab StatesChildren in hazardous work

Source: ILO: Global Estimates of Child Labour: Results and Trends, 2012-2016 (Geneva, 2017).

2.1.7. Occupational injuries
Working conditions are an important determinant of overall living standards, both forworkers and their families. Working conditions cover a wide range of factors related to workand employment, including working time, remuneration and the work environment, among
others. A safe and sound work environment ensuring occupational safety and health at work
is at the core of decent work. In this context, it is crucial to have reliable statistics on
occupational injuries in order to assess the extent to which workers are protected from (orexposed to) work-related hazards and risks. 52
Indicator number and title: 8.8.1 Frequency rates of fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries, by sex andmigrant status
Tier: II

Concepts and definitions
An occupational injury is defined as any personal injury, disease or death resulting froman occupational accident. An occupational injury is therefore distinct from an occupational

52

For more information see ILOSTAT’s indicator description on occupational injuries, at
http://www.ilo.org/ilostat-files/Documents/description_INJ_EN.pdf or the metadata sheet forindicator 8.8.1 on the SDG Indicators metadata repository, at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/.

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disease, which is a disease contracted as a result of exposure over a period of time to risk
factors arising from work activity.
An occupational accident is an unexpected and unplanned occurrence, including actsof violence, arising out of or in connection with work which results in one or more workers
incurring a personal injury, disease or death.
A case of occupational injury is the case of one worker incurring an occupational injury
as a result of an occupational accident. An occupational injury could be fatal (as a result ofoccupational accidents and where death occurred within one year of the day of the accident)
or non-fatal with lost work time.
Statistics on fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries should always be presented,
treated and interpreted separately, since they tend to come from different sources, often
having different coverage and following different methodologies.
It is in general difficult and not particularly informative to analyse the number of fatal
or non-fatal occupational injuries in absolute terms since it does not convey any information
beyond the numerical magnitude of the phenomenon. Based solely on the total number offatal or non-fatal occupational injuries incurred, it is hard to tell how frequent theseoccurrences are, the extent of the workers’ exposure to risk and the likelihood of incidents
recurring in the future. With a view to drawing more helpful conclusions from the statistics
and in order to favour comparisons (over time, across countries and even across economic
activities or occupations), it is recommended to put figures into perspective by calculating a
rate or ratio. The main rates of occupational injuries used in labour statistics are incidence
rates (number of occupational injuries during the reference period for a given number ofworkers in the reference group) and frequency rates (number of occupational injuries during
the reference period for a given number of hours worked by the workers in the referencegroup). Although the indicator title of SDG global framework indicator 8.8.1 calls for thecompilation of frequency rates, national practices point towards a more widespread use ofincidence rates.
The incidence rates of fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries cast light on the extent
to which workers in the reference group are exposed to work-related risks, by presenting the
average number of fatal or non-fatal occupational injuries per worker in the reference group(or per given number of workers in the reference group). This refers to the personal
likelihood of the workers in the reference group suffering from work-related injuries.
Similarly, the frequency rates of fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries provide
information on the likelihood that workers in the reference group will incur occupational
injuries given the amount of hours they worked. In other words, they present the average
number of fatal or non-fatal occupational injuries per hour worked by workers in thereference group (or per given number of hours worked by workers in the reference group).
The workers in the particular group under consideration and covered by the source ofthe statistics of occupational injuries are known as the workers in the reference group. In thecase of a notification system, it is the number of workers in, for example, the establishments
or selected economic activities covered by the system as set out in the relevant legislation or
regulations. 53

53

For more detailed information, please refer to the resolution concerning statistics of occupational injuries(resulting from occupational accidents), adopted by the 16 th International Conference of Labour Statisticians(October 1998); http://ilo.org/global/statistics-and-databases/standards-and-guidelines/resolutions-adoptedby-international-conferences-of-labour-statisticians/WCMS_087528/lang--en/index.htm.

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41

Calculation
The incidence rates, which are the rates most widely used by countries in terms ofoccupational injuries, are calculated as follows:
Fatal occupational injuries incidence rate =Number of new cases of fatal occupational injuries during the reference period
Number of workers in the reference groupx 100′000

Non fatal occupational injuries incidence rate =Number of new cases of non fatal occupational injuries during the reference period
Number of workers in the reference groupx 100′000

Alternatively, frequency rates may be used at the national level instead of incidence
rates, calculated as follows:
Fatal occupational injuries frequency rate =Number of new cases of fatal occupational injuries during the reference period

Total number of hours worked by workers in the reference group during the reference period

x 1′000′000

Non fatal occupational injuries frequency rate =Number of new cases of non fatal occupational injuries during the reference period
Total number of hours worked by workers in the reference group during the reference period

x 1′000′000

Disaggregations desired and classifications
used for them
It is recommended that data for this indicator be disaggregated by sex and migrant
status. It is important to have information on nationals and migrants separately in order toassess differences in the extent to which these two population groups are exposed to workrelated risks and thereby to determine the need for targeted campaigns or policies.
It is also enlightening, where feasible, to have statistics on fatal and non-fatal
occupational injuries by economic activity, by occupation and, at the national level, byregion within the country. This casts light on the particular areas that policy-makers should
focus on in terms of improving safety measures at the workplace, by providing specificinformation on economic activities, occupations or regions more prone to occupational
accidents.

Sources of data at national and international levels
Statistics on occupational injuries come from a variety of sources, including various
types of administrative records (insurance records, labour inspection records, records kept
by the labour ministry or the relevant social security institution, etc.), establishment surveys
and household surveys.
The recommended data sources for statistics on occupational injuries are records fromthe corresponding national system of notification or compensation of occupational injuries.
Notification records include labour inspection records and records kept by ministries oflabour and refer to the notification of occupational accidents, the workers involved in themand the resulting occupational injuries that are provided by employers, workers or labour
inspectors to the competent authority. In many countries, employers are required by law to
notify all occupational accidents occurring in their workplace. Compensation records (suchas insurance records) refer to claims made by workers for benefits or compensation, after
incurring an occupational injury, to the competent authority (social insurance, labour
ministry, etc.).

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The coverage of all these types of records may not be fully comprehensive, due tounderreported issues (undernotification of occupational accidents) and/or some workers nothaving access to compensation schemes (informal workers may be excluded). Thus,
wherever possible, it is advisable to supplement administrative data by data derived fromhousehold surveys and/or establishment surveys. This allows more exhaustive coverage of
all workers and economic activities.
It is worth noting that the agencies notified about fatal occupational injuries tend to bedifferent from the agencies notified about non-fatal occupational injuries. Thus, when
deriving statistics from administrative records, information on fatal and non-fatal
occupational injuries is very likely to be derived from different sources. This means that thesources may have different coverage, so that fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries,
although very complementary, may not be strictly comparable.
At the international level, the ILO’s central online labour statistics database,
ILOSTAT, 54 is the main source for cross-country statistics on occupational injuries.
Unfortunately, no global or regional estimates are available for occupational injuries at thisstage.

Interpretation and use
Data on occupational injuries are essential for planning preventive measures because
they signal areas of particular concern. With a view to designing more targeted prevention
mechanisms and related policies, it is recommended to disaggregate and analyse thisindicator by sex and migrant status (and if possible by economic activity, occupation andregion within the country). Disaggregation brings to light the groups of workers, economic
activities or occupations with the highest risk of work-related accidents, which can then betargeted more effectively for inspection visits and the development of regulations andprocedures, as well as for safety campaigns.
There may be problems of underreporting of fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries,
therefore proper systems should be put in place to ensure the best possible reporting and to
maximize overall data quality. In contexts where there are strong reasons to believe that
underreporting is significant, figures should be interpreted with care, taking that limitation
into account.
The analysis of trends in occupational injury rates provides information on the progressor deterioration in occupational safety and health, revealing the effectiveness of prevention
measures and the eventual need for further regulation. Indicators on occupational injuries
are volatile, however, since unexpected but significant accidents or national calamities bringabout strong annual fluctuations. It is important to study the underlying reasons behind such
sharp changes.

Limitations
The variety of possible sources of data on occupational injuries (administrative records,
establishment surveys and household surveys) hinders the comparability of data acrosscountries since each type of source provides information on different specific concepts. Data
derived from administrative records are not strictly comparable since they include numerous
types of records that follow different rules and are maintained by different agencies. Twomain sources of data are records of notifications by employers to the competent authority
and insurance records of the authority compensating the victims. These two would clearly

54

ILOSTAT is accessible at www.ilo.org/ilostat.

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43

yield different results, since it is possible that not all injuries that were compensated toworkers were reported by the employer and vice versa. It is also possible that these records
have a different geographical coverage or that they cover different economic activities.
Ideally, all records pertaining to the same topic kept by different agencies should be linked
and/or consolidated (using unique unit identifiers, for example). This would facilitate theexpansion of the coverage of the statistics, contributing to a more comprehensive andrepresentative dataset by linking together records covering different regions of the country
or economic activities. When statistics come from an establishment survey, the results would
be closer to those from records of notifications made by employers since it is also theemployer who provides the establishment survey information. However, establishment
surveys tend not to cover the informal sector, establishments of a very small size andsometimes the agricultural sector. When statistics come from a household survey (such as alabour force survey), their reliability depends heavily on the accuracy of the respondents,
who may be subjective in the information given. However, if enough questions are used
about accidents and injuries to ensure the accuracy of the information, household surveys
can provide data cross-tabulated by various disaggregations and in this way can provide
more detailed and comprehensive information related to the injuries. 55
It is important to note that there may be a difference in units used from source to source:
insurance records and notifications records will most likely give the number of cases of
injuries (if one worker had suffered from several injuries throughout the year, he/she would
appear as many times as the number of injuries suffered), whereas information derived fromhousehold surveys would refer to the number of persons having suffered from at least one
injury (unless the survey reliably collects information on how many injuries each person
suffered and the results are aggregated).

Data visualization and analysis
The trends and patterns of the incidence rates of fatal and non-fatal occupational
injuries vary considerably from one country to the other and the differences in the levels of
incidence rates among countries are just as significant, so that no clear conclusion can be
drawn about the overall situation in terms of occupational safety and health around the world
based on these figures alone (figure 9). Fortunately (and as expected), fatal occupational
injuries happen far less frequently in all countries with available data. In both cases, thedistribution of countries with available data is rather scattered and more concentrated
towards lower values (differences between countries with lower occupational injuries
incidence rates are smaller than those between countries with higher incidence rates). The
median value for fatal occupational injuries incidence rates is 3.1, which means that in 21 of
the 43 countries with available data for 2010 or afterwards, there were less than 3.1 fatal
occupational injuries per 100,000 workers in the reference year, while in 21 countries there
were more than 3.1 fatal occupational injuries per 100,000. In half of the 52 countries withavailable data for 2010 or afterwards, there were less than 772 non-fatal occupational injuries
per 100,000 workers in the reference year.

55

For more information on deriving statistics on occupational injuries from household andestablishment surveys, see Occupational injuries statistics from household surveys and establishment
surveys:An
ILO
manualon
methods(Geneva,2008),
availableat
http://www.ilo.org/stat/Publications/WCMS_173153/lang--en/index.htm.

44

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Figure 9.

Distribution of the rate of occupational injuries per 100,000 workers for countries withavailable data (latest year available after 2009)
5 500

Non-fatal occupational injuries per 100,000 workers

9

Fatal occupational injuries per 100,000 workers

8
7
6
5

4
3
2
1

5 000
4 500
4 000
3 500
3 000
2 500
2 000
1 500
1 000
500

0

0

Source: ILOSTAT. Boxplots based on data for 43 countries for fatal occupational injuries and on data for 52 countries for non-fatal occupational injuries.
Data across countries may not be strictly comparable due to differences in the type of occupational injuries covered (compensated or reported injuries),
the type of workers considered for the reference group (all workers, employees only or persons insured only) and the operational criteria used to define
occupational injuries.

2.2. Indicators under the ILO’s custodianshipof other Goals
The need to achieve decent work for all men and women is clearly laid out in Goal 8
but it also underlies many other Goals. The importance of building sound, inclusive labour
markets is strongly related to other areas of human life and well-being and many of these arereflected throughout the 2030 Agenda. This is why the ILO is also the custodian agency forsome indicators under goals other than Goal 8, including the three indicators with an alreadyestablished and internationally agreed methodology that are presented in the following
sections.
Table 5.

List of tier I and II indicators for which the ILO is the sole custodian agency or one of thecustodian agencies for goals other than Goal 8

Indicator
numberIndicator title

Custodianagency/ies

Partneragency/ies

Tier

1.3.1

Proportion of population covered by social protection floors/systems,by sex, distinguishing children, unemployed persons, older persons,
persons with disabilities, pregnant women, newborns, work-injury
victims and the poor and the vulnerable

ILO

World Bank

II

5.5.2

Proportion of women in managerial positions

ILO

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I45

Indicator
numberIndicator title

Custodianagency/ies

Partneragency/ies

10.4.1

Labour share of GDP, comprising wages and social protection
transfers

ILO

IMF

Tier
II

2.2.1. Social protection coverage
Access to at least a basic level of social security throughout the life cycle is a humanright, fundamental to ensuring individuals’ health and dignity. 56 Social protection systems
are at the core of efforts to ensure decent living conditions for the whole population
throughout their lives. The proportion of the population covered by social protection floors
provides an indication of the extent to which the ideal of the universality of social protectionis accomplished and therefore of how secure the population’s health and living conditions
are. It is therefore a key indicator that conveys information on how protected the population
is from the various contingencies potentially faced in life. This indicator is all the morerevealing as it is disaggregated by type of contingency. 57
Indicator number and title: 1.3.1 Proportion of population covered by social protection floors/systems, bysex, distinguishing children, unemployed persons, older persons, persons with disabilities, pregnant
women, newborns, work-injury victims and the poor and the vulnerable
Tier: II

Concepts and definitions
SDG indicator 1.3.1 reflects the proportion of persons effectively covered by a social
protection system, including social protection floors, as well as the main components ofsocial protection: child and maternity benefits, support for persons without a job, persons
with disabilities, victims of work injuries and older persons.
Effective coverage of social protection is measured by the number of people who are
actually receiving benefits of contributory and non-contributory social protection
programmes plus the number of persons actively contributing to social insurance schemes.
Social protection systems include contributory and non-contributory schemes forchildren, pregnant women and newborns, people of active age, older persons, victims ofwork injuries and persons with disabilities. Social protection floors provide at least a basic
level in all main contingencies along the life cycle, as defined in the ILO Social Protection
Floors Recommendation, which was adopted in 2012. 58 Measurements of effective
coverage should reflect how in reality legal provisions are implemented.

56

See ILO Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No.202), available at:
http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:R202.
57

For more information see the metadata sheet for indicator 1.3.1 on the SDG Indicators metadata
repository, at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/.
58

The ILO Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202) is available at
http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:R202.

46

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Calculation
The proportion of the population covered by social protection systems, including social
protection floors, is calculated as follows:
Social protection systems coverage rate =Number of persons receiving cash benefits under at least one of the contingencies(contributory or non contributory benefit)
or actively contributing to at least one social security scheme
Total population

x 100

SDG global indicator 1.3.1 also calls for the separate calculation of several subindicators to distinguish between the coverage rates of the various components of social
protection systems for each contingency. These separate indicators express the share of thecorresponding population covered for each contingency and are calculated as follows:
Proportion of older persons receiving a pension
Number of persons above statutory retirement age
receiving an old age pension=
x 100
Total number of persons above statutory retirement age
Proportion of persons with disabilities receiving benefits
Number of persons receiving disability benefits=
x 100
Total number of persons with severe disabilities59
Proportion of women giving birth covered by maternity benefits
Number of women receiving maternity benefits=
x 100
Total number of women giving birth
Proportion of children covered by social protection benefits
Number of children/households receiving children benefits=
x 100
Total number of children/households with children
Proportion of unemployed receiving benefits
Number of recipients of unemployment benefits=
x 100
Total number of unemployed persons
Proportion of workers covered in case of occupational injury
Number of workers protected by injury insurance=
x 100
Total employment
Proportion of vulnerable persons60 receiving benefits
Number of persons receiving social assistance=x 100
Total number of vulnerable persons

59

Calculated for each country as the product of the country’s prevalence of disability ratio (publishedfor each country group by WHO) and the country’s population.
60

Vulnerable persons are defined here as all children plus adults not covered by contributory benefits
and persons above retirement age not receiving contributory benefits (pensions).

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47

Disaggregations desired and classifications
used for them
As explained above, the main indicator for the coverage rate of social protection
systems should be presented, along with information on the coverage of each specificcontingency, expressed as a percentage of the respective population.
In addition, the statistics under this indicator should be disaggregated by sex and, if
data availability permits, by age (using broad age bands).

Sources of data at national and international levels
At the national level, administrative records are typically the most reliable, timely andcomprehensive source of statistics on social protection coverage. The types of administrative
records used as a source of statistics on social protection include insurance records, social
security records, records of the labour ministries and records of health ministries, among
others.
In the absence of reliable administrative records or if statistics are not produced fromthe available records, household surveys (household budget surveys or labour force surveys)
can serve as a source of statistics on social protection coverage. Data from a household
survey may also be used to estimate the denominator of the indicator and its disaggregations.
At the international level, the ILO provides an important source of cross-country
statistics on social protection, available in the ILO’s central online labour statistics database,
ILOSTAT. 61 The statistics disseminated by the ILO on social protection are compiled
mainly through its Social Security Inquiry, 62 the ILO Social Protection Department’s annual
collection of administrative data from national ministries of labour, social security, welfare,finance and others. The ILO also derives global and regional estimates of the proportion of
the population covered by social protection systems and the corresponding sub-indicators.
Other international databases of social protection statistics include those of the World
Bank, 63 UNICEF, 64 the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowermentof Women (UN-Women), 65 HelpAge International, 66 the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) 67 and the International Social Security Association(ISSA). 68

61

ILOSTAT is accessible at www.ilo.org/ilostat.

62

For
more
informationontheSocialhttp://www.ilo.org/dyn/ilossi/ssimain.home?p_lang=en.

Security

Inquiry,

visit

63

Availableat
http://databank.worldbank.org/data/reports.aspx?source=the-atlas-of-socialprotection:-indicators-of-resilience-and-equity-(aspire).

48

64

Available at https://data.unicef.org/.

65

Available at http://www.unwomen.org/en.

66

Available at http://www.helpage.org/resources/ageing-data/.

67

Available at https://data.oecd.org/socialexp/social-spending.htm.

68

Available at https://www.issa.int/en.

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Interpretation and use
Statistics on the proportion of the population covered by social protection floors reveal
essential information on the extent to which the population is protected against life’s
eventualities and how secure individuals’ health and living conditions are. This indicatordetails the proportion of the population with access to basic social security guarantees that
ensure essential health care and basic income security over the life cycle.
In order to assess how comprehensive and universal a social security system is, it is
crucial to have data separately on the coverage of each contingency’s social protection
scheme, expressed as a proportion of the population potentially covered by that contingency(proportion of older persons receiving a pension, proportion of persons with disabilities
receiving benefits, proportion of women giving birth covered by maternity benefits,
proportion of children covered by social protection benefits, proportion of unemployedreceiving benefits, proportion of workers covered in case of occupational injury andproportion of vulnerable persons receiving benefits).

Limitations
Statistics on the overall effective coverage of social protection systems may be hiding
important distinctions between coverage by contributory social insurance, universal schemes
covering all residents (or all residents in a given category) and means-tested schemes
potentially covering all those who pass the required test of income and/or assets. Having
detailed information on each of these (and their relative importance) is essential whenassessing social protection coverage and gaps in coverage.
Also, for the purposes of this indicator, effective coverage of social protection ismeasured as the number of people who are actively contributing to a social insurance schemeor receiving benefits (contributory or non-contributory), which means that the indicator
refers to the population involved in at least one social protection cash transfer. This provides
a comprehensive headcount of social protection coverage but conveys no information on theamount of the cash transfers, the differences in amounts received by beneficiaries, howadequate the benefits are in relation to what they are supposed to guarantee and the overall
quality of the social protection system.

Data visualization and analysis
ILO estimates reveal that in 2016, about 45 per cent of the world’s population wascovered by social protection systems, which means that less than half of the world’s
population either contributed to a social security scheme or received at least one type of
benefit from a contributory or non-contributory social protection programme. The world’s
social protection coverage rate hides great discrepancies across regions: 84 per cent of the
population were involved in at least one social protection cash transfer in Europe and Central
Asia, whereas only 18 per cent of the population were covered by social protection in Africa(figure 10).
The overall social protection coverage rate may overlook notable differences in thequality and extent of each particular social protection scheme. It is therefore important toalso assess the coverage rates of each of the individual schemes. The aggregate figure thatrefers to the whole population may also fail to convey differences in social protection
coverage across stages of the life cycle. Thus, it is also important to produce data by age
group (children, adults, seniors), where appropriate.

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49

Figure 10.

Share of the population covered by social protection systems, 69 by region (2016)

90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
World

AfricaAmericas

Asia and the Pacific Europe and Central
Asia

Source: ILO: World Social Protection Report 2017–19: Universal social protection to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (Geneva, 2017).

2.2.2. Female share in management
Information on the distribution of employment in each particular occupation by sex
reveals important information about labour market segregation. In particular, statistics onthe distribution of employment by sex and occupation with a high skill level, especially inmanagement, cast light on extent to which women and men have equal access to decisionmaking and management roles in government, enterprises and institutions. The female shareof employment in managerial positions is therefore an important indicator for providing
insights into women’s power in decision-making and in the economy. 70

69

Refers to the population effectively covered by at least one social protection cash transfer.

70

For more information see metadata sheet for indicator 5.5.2 on the SDG Indicators metadata
repository, at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/.

50

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Indicator number and title: 5.5.2 Proportion of women in managerial positions
Tier: I

Concepts and definitions
Employment comprises all persons of working age who, during a short reference period(one week), were engaged in any activity to produce goods or provide services for pay or
profit. 71
Employment in management is determined according to the categories of the latest
version of the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-08), 72 whichorganizes jobs into a clearly defined set of groups based on the tasks and duties undertakenin the job.
For the purposes of this indicator, it is preferable to refer to senior and middle manager
only rather than to total management (including junior management). The share of womentends to be higher in junior management than in senior and middle management, so including
junior management may introduce a bias in the indicator. Senior and middle management
correspond to major group 1 in both ISCO-08 and ISCO-88, excluding category 14 in ISCO08 (hospitality, retail and other services managers) and category 13 in ISCO-88 (generalmanagers) since these comprise mainly managers of small enterprises. If statistics are notdisaggregated at the submajor level, then major group 1 of ISCO-88 and ISCO-08 can beused as a proxy and the indicator would then refer to total management (including juniormanagement).

Calculation
The proportion of women in managerial positions is calculated as follows:
Female share in management
Women employed in submajor groups 11, 12 and 13 of ISCO 08=
x 100
Persons employed in submajor groups 11, 12 and 13 of ISCO 08

Disaggregations desired and classifications
used for themThis indicator does not require any disaggregation. However, in order to compute it, itis necessary to have statistics on employment disaggregated by economic activity, using thelatest version of the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-08) andreferring to the two-digit level of the classification, to the extent possible, and to the onedigit level of the classification when more detailed data is not available.
It is important to note that although the indicator title does not specifically call for
disaggregation, the overarching principle of data disaggregation of the global indicator
framework implies that SDG indicators should be disaggregated, where relevant, by income,71

Resolution concerning statistics of work, employment and labour underutilization adopted by the
19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians, Geneva, 2–11 October 2013, available at
http://ilo.org/global/statistics-and-databases/standards-and-guidelines/resolutions-adopted-byinternational-conferences-of-labour-statisticians/WCMS_230304/lang--en/index.htm.
72

For more detailed information on the latest version of the International Standard Classification of
Occupations (ISCO-08), see http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/stat/isco/isco08/.

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51

sex, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability and geographical location, or othercharacteristics, in accordance with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics.

Sources of data at national and international levels
At the national level, labour force surveys are the preferred source of statistics on the
proportion of women in managerial positions. Such surveys provide comprehensive
coverage of the employed population since they can be designed to cover virtually the entire
non-institutional population of a given country, all branches of economic activity, all sectorsof the economy and all categories of workers, including the self-employed, contributing
family workers, casual workers and multiple jobholders. They also gather detailed
information on the occupation of employed persons, typically allowing the production of
statistics at the two-digit level of the ISCO. In addition, labour force surveys generally
provide simultaneous measurement of the employed, unemployed and persons outside thelabour force (i.e., the working-age population) in a coherent framework. This favours theinterpretation of the female share in management along with other indicators of the labour
market.
At the international level, the ILO’s central online labour statistics database,
ILOSTAT, 73 is the main source for cross-country statistics on the female share in senior andmiddle management. Unfortunately, no global or regional estimates are available at thisstage.

Interpretation and use
This indicator provides information on the extent to which women have access to highlevel decision-making positions and thus provides insights into women’s role and influenceon the economy and society. In order to obtain a comprehensive picture of women’s positionin the labour market, including their representation in high-level occupations, it is important
to interpret this indicator along with other labour market indicators. In particular, it is crucial
to keep in mind the distribution by sex of total employment when analysing the distribution
by sex of employment in senior and middle management.

Limitations
The female share in senior and middle management reflects the gender distribution inhigh skill level positions but conveys no information on the actual levels of responsibility ofwomen in these management positions or the importance of the enterprises and organizations
in which they are employed. It also does not say anything about the levels of experience andqualification of men and women in these positions. In addition, the quality and reliability ofstatistics on the female share in senior and middle management are strictly dependent on thereliability of the employment statistics by occupation at the two-digit level of the ISCO.

Data visualization and analysis 74
In the past decade, the share of women in senior and middle management increased inonly 44 per cent of the countries with available data and remains significantly lower than thefemale share in total employment in all the countries studied. In more than 66 per cent of

73

ILOSTAT is accessible at www.ilo.org/ilostat.

74

Analytical paragraphs and graphs submitted by the ILO to UNSD as inputs for the 2017 SDG
reports.

52

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these countries, women comprised less than one third of employment in senior and middle
management in 2015. The largest increases (of more than 6 percentage points) in the female
share in senior and middle management in the last decade were observed in Iceland, Cyprus,
Sweden, Austria and Malta (figure 11).
Figure 11.

Female share in senior and middle management (2005 and 2015)

50%

45%

LVA

40%

ISL SWE

HUN
LTU
BGR
SVN

POL
35%
AUS

2015

30%
AUT DEU
DNK
MLT
CYP
NLD
GRC
MKD
ITA

25%

NORFINGBR
BELROU
FRA
PRT

IRL
EST

SVK CZE
HRV

20%

15%

TUR

LUX

10%

5%

0%
0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

2005
Source: ILOSTAT. Three-digit ISO country codes are used to identify countries.

When it comes to the female share in management, including junior management, in
more than two thirds of countries with available data, this is higher than the female share insenior and middle management only. Thus, women are more represented in juniormanagement than in senior and middle management, with glass ceilings thicker at top
management echelons. This highlights the importance of disaggregation in the analysis of
this indicator because the ability of women to reach high-level positions would beoverestimated by focusing only on the female share in total management as opposed to thefemale share in senior and middle management (figure 12).

Guidebook-Decent Work-[STATI-180920-1]-En.docx

53

Figure 12.

Female share in management versus senior and middle management only (latest year available
after 2008)

50%
MDA
BLZ

45%

40%
AUSNOR
GBR
CHE
MEX
IRLTHA
FIN
PRT
MAC
BEL
ISR
FRA
ROU
ESP
ECU
SVK
EST ZAF URY
AUTCZEDEU GTM
MUS
SRB
MLT
DNK
ITA NLD
ETH
HRV
GRC
MDG
LKA
MKD
TZA
MYSBIHCYP
IDN
LBR

35%

Total management

30%

25%

20%

PHL

BLR

LVA
SLV
PAN
SYCCRI ABW
MNG
HUN
POL
LTUSWEUKR
ISL
SVN
BGR

LUX
KHM
15%

PSE
TUR

10%

5%

0%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

Senior and middle management
Source: ILOSTAT. Three-digit ISO country codes are used to identify countries.

2.2.3. Labour share of GDP
National output is used to remunerate the two types of inputs used in the production
process: labour and capital. The share of national output that goes into remunerating labour
provides information on the extent to which workers benefit from gains in production,compared to how holders of capital profit from them. 75

75

For more information see the s metadata sheet for indicator 10.4.1 on the SDG Indicators metadata
repository, at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/.

54

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Indicator number and title: 10.4.1 Labour share of GDP, comprising wages and social protection transfers
Tier: II

Concepts and definitions
The labour income share in gross domestic product (GDP) is the total compensation of
employees expressed as a percentage of GDP for the total economy.
GDP represents the monetary value of goods and services within the SNA 76 production
boundary produced within a country over a specified period of time. It can be calculatedusing three different approaches: production, expenditure and income. The SNA establishes
that GDP is the sum of gross value added of all resident producer units, including taxes on
products not comprised in the valuation of output and excluding subsidies on products(production approach). GDP also corresponds to the sum of the final uses of goods andservices (as opposed to intermediate consumption) measured at purchasers’ prices, less thevalue of imports of goods and services (expenditure approach). GDP is also equal to the sumof primary incomes distributed by resident producer units, that is, all wages, rents, interest
and profits (income approach).
It is important to note that according to the new standards laid out in the 2013 ICLS
resolution concerning statistics of work, employment and labour underutilization, the labour
input contributing to the GDP comprises not only employment (work done for use by othersfor pay or profit) but unpaid trainee work, volunteer work, own-use production work andother work activities as well. However, the extent to which contributions to the GDP offorms of work other than employment are measured and accounted for depends on thenational context. Most countries limit their measurement of the labour input to employment.
Compensation of employees refers to the total remuneration, in cash or in kind, payableby an enterprise to an employee in return for work done by the latter during the accounting
period, as defined in the SNA. It has two main components: (a) wages and salaries payablein cash or in kind; and (b) social insurance contributions payable by employers, which
include contributions to social security schemes, actual social contributions to other
employment-related social insurance schemes and imputed social contributions to other
employment-related social insurance schemes.

Calculation
The labour share in GDP is calculated as follows:
Labour share of GDP =Total compensation of employees
x 100
GDP

For the sake of consistency, reliability and comprehensiveness, the numerator and thedenominator should be provided in the same unit (for example, in nominal national currency)
and they should have the same coverage, which should be as exhaustive as possible (ideally,
the whole economy, including all types of employees).

76

For more detailed information on the United Nations System of National Accounts, visit
https://unstats.un.org/unsd/nationalaccount/sna.asp.

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55

Sources of data at national and international levels
The preferred and most common source of data for the two items needed to calculate
this indicator (compensation of employees and GDP) are national accounts, which usually
have an exhaustive coverage of the whole economy and allow the measurement of thevarious GDP components within a consistent framework. Alternatively, estimates of thelabour share in GDP can be derived using statistics on the compensation of employees fromestablishment surveys.
At the international level, the ILO’s central online labour statistics database,
ILOSTAT, 77 disseminates cross-country statistics on the labour income share.
Unfortunately, no global or regional estimates are available at this stage.

Interpretation and use
The labour share of GDP conveys the relative share of national output which is destined
to employees as compared with the share that goes to the remuneration of capital during thereference period. With a view to sound interpretation of this indicator, it should be analysed
along with statistics on economic growth trends, employment growth and labour
productivity growth. The share of labour compensation in national output casts light on theextent to which workers are benefiting from economic growth. In times of recession, thelabour share in GDP provides information on how falling output reduces employees’
remuneration relative to profits. For any given level of GDP, the labour share can fall as aresult of falling wage employment (employees), falling wages or a combination of both. 78

Limitations
The labour share of GDP underestimates the share of GDP that goes to the remunerationof employment because it covers only the compensation of employees, excluding the
remuneration of the self-employed. The magnitude of this underestimation depends on thenational context, in particular the share of paid employment (employees) in total
employment. Consequently, the bias resulting from non-coverage of self-employed tends tobe much more significant in developing countries, which tend to have much larger shares ofself-employed than developed countries.
The labour income share should be interpreted along with other economic and labour
market indicators since it does not by itself provide any information on growth, productivity,
workers’ conditions, workers’ experience and qualifications and labour market segregation.
In cases where the contribution of forms of work other than employment to the GDP
are measured and accounted for, it is necessary to resort to satellite accounts for the detailed
data needed, which complicates data collection procedures and may introduce dataconsistency issues.

77

ILOSTAT is accessible at www.ilo.org/ilostat.

See ILO, “The wage share”, in Global Wage Report 2010/11: Wage policies in times of crisis(Geneva, 2010), available at: http://www.ilo.org/global/publications/books/WCMS_145265/lang-en/index.htm.
78

56

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Data visualization and analysis 79
There has not been a clear trend in the labour share of GDP in the past decade, which
has increased in 55 per cent of countries with available data. The average labour share of
GDP among countries with available data in 2015 was 52.3 per cent and the median share
was 53 per cent, which means that in general, in the parts of the world represented bycountries with available data, about half of total output is destined to remunerating labour
and the other half goes to remunerating the holders of capital (figure 13).
The global economic crisis of 2007–08 had a severe impact on labour markets
worldwide, giving rise to a subsequent jobs crisis. In countries where we observe a decline
in the labour share of GDP, the slowdown in economic growth translated into reduced labour
incomes relative to profits, that is, labour incomes fell at a greater rate than profits. This may
be due to a decline in employment or a reduction of wages and labour-related income (or acombination of both).
Given that labour income provides workers with the means to consume and invest andthus is an important driver of economic growth, it is crucial to foster desirable levels oflabour share of GDP.
Figure 13.

Labour income share, as a percentage of GDP (2005 and 2015: left and 2015: right)

70%

65%
ISL

65%

60%
60%
FRA

55%

AUS

CHE
HRV
JPN
BELSVN
PRT
USA
NLD
DEUGBRESPCYPDNKGRCCAN
AUTFIN

LUXITA
POL
MLT
LTU
SWE
EST
BGR CZELVANOR

MKDNZL

50%
2015

IRL
TUR

45%

55%

HUN
50%

45%

40%
SVK

MEX

35%

40%

30%
30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

55%

60%

2005

65%

70%
35%

Source: ILOSTAT. Three-digit ISO country codes are used to identify countries.

79

Analytical paragraphs and graphs submitted by the ILO to UNSD as inputs to the 2017 SDG reports.

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57

2.3. Other indicators with ILO’s involvement
In addition to being custodian (either solely or jointly with other agencies) of all thetier I and II indicators described in the preceding sections, the ILO is also involved as apartner agency in the promotion, compilation and dissemination of other indicators that
already have an established methodology, as explained below.
Table 6.

List of tier I and II indicators for which the ILO is a partner agency

Indicator
numberIndicator title

Custodianagency/ies

Partneragency/ies

1.1.1

Proportion of population below the international poverty line, by sex,age, employment status and geographical location (urban/rural)

World Bank

ILO

I

4.3.1

Participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal
education and training in the previous 12 months, by sex

UNESCO-UISOECD,EUROSTAT,
ILO

II

Tier

2.3.1. Working poverty
The ILO’s involvement in SDG global indicator 1.1.1 (proportion of population below
the international poverty line, by sex, age, employment status and geographical location) is
limited to the working poor, that is, the proportion of employed population living with theirfamilies below the poverty line (also known as the working poverty rate). The working
poverty rate reveals the proportion of the employed population who live in poverty despite
being employed, implying that their employment-related incomes are not sufficient to lift
them and their families out of poverty and ensure decent living conditions. 80
Indicator number and title: 1.1.1 Proportion of population below the international poverty line, by sex,age, employment status and geographical location (urban/rural)
Tier: I

Concepts and definitions
The working poor are defined as employed persons who, despite being employed, live
in households with per capita consumption or income that is below the poverty line. For the
purposes of international comparability, the poverty line used for the measurement of thisindicator refers to an absolute international poverty line of US$1.90 per day at PPP.
Employment comprises all persons of working age who, during a short reference period(one week), were engaged in any activity to produce goods or provide services for pay or
profit. 81

80

For more information see the metadata sheet for indicator 1.1.1 on the SDG Indicators Metadata
repository at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/.
81

Resolution concerning statistics of work, employment and labour underutilization adopted by the
19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians, Geneva, 2–11 October 2013, available at
http://ilo.org/global/statistics-and-databases/standards-and-guidelines/resolutions-adopted-byinternational-conferences-of-labour-statisticians/WCMS_230304/lang--en/index.htm.

58

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Calculation
The working poverty rate is calculated as follows:
Working poverty rate =Number of employed persons living in poor households
Total number of employed persons

x 100

Disaggregations desired and classifications
used for them
It is recommended that this indicator be disaggregated by sex and geographical location(urban/rural) in order to allow the assessment of differences in the incidence of working
poverty and the identification of particularly vulnerable population groups.
It is important to have information on the population living in poverty by employment
status (thus distinguishing the working poor from the unemployed living in poverty andpersons outside the labour force living in poverty) in order to be able to understand theunderlying causes of poverty. In the case of the working poor, the most likely culprits ofpoverty are low incomes and, more generally, poor working conditions and low-quality
employment. Conversely, in the case of the unemployed or persons outside the labour force
who are poor, poverty may be driven by a lack of employment opportunities and insufficientsocial protection.

Sources of data at national and international levels
At the national level, the most reliable sources of statistics on working poverty arehousehold surveys that include detailed questions for gathering information on both
employment status and poverty status. It is important to note that employment status pertains
to the individual and is determined at the individual level, whereas poverty status pertains to
the household and is determined at the level of the household. The most common type ofhousehold surveys serving as a source of data on working poverty are household income andexpenditure surveys and living standards measurement surveys with employment modules.
Alternatively, labour force surveys that collect information on household income can also
be used.
At the international level, the ILO’s central online labour statistics database,
ILOSTAT, 82 is the main source for cross-country statistics on working poverty. The ILO’s
Trends Econometric Models 83 are used to derive comparable and consistent estimates of theworking poverty rate for all countries, as well as global and regional estimates. 84

82

ILOSTAT is accessible at www.ilo.org/ilostat.

83

Accessible at http://www.ilo.org/empelm/projects/WCMS_114246/lang--en/index.htm.

84

The global and regional estimates of employment by economic class (including the working poor)
are part of the ILO Labour Force Estimates and Projections series, which are analysed in the World
Employment
andSocialOutlookreports
andareavailableat
http://www.ilo.org/global/research/global-reports/weso/2017/lang--en/index.htm. For more detailed
information on the ILO’s estimates and projections of working poverty, see
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/--inst/documents/publication/wcms_216451.pdf.

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59Interpretation and use
The working poverty rate provides information on the link between employment andpoverty. In order to inform effective policies and measures aimed at reducing poverty, it is
crucial to analyse the nature and patterns of the link between employment and poverty.
Whether a worker is considered as working poor depends on his or her own
employment-related income, but also on the employment-related income of other household
members, the other types of income received and the total number of household members.
Hence, in order to draw accurate conclusions on the characteristics and determinants ofpoverty, it is important to study the working poverty rate along with other labour market
indicators and with information on household composition and structure.
Having statistics on the working poor disaggregated by status in employment,
economic activity, occupation, or other types of characteristics of the employed may help
identify the categories of workers most vulnerable to poverty, so that they can be targetedby relevant policies. Statistics on the working poor by the number of hours worked is also
enlightening, in that this reveals whether the main issue is the low number of hours worked,
possibly due to time-related underemployment work or insufficient earnings, despite longhours of work.

Limitations
Working poverty statistics are strictly dependent on the poverty line used to derive themand the choice of poverty line based on the context, priorities and expected uses of thestatistics is often subject to debate. When doing cross-country analyses, even using thestandard absolute international poverty line of US$1.90 per day at PPP, it is hard to ascertain
the full international comparability of the data since it could be questioned whether two
people in two different countries, living on less than US$1.90 a day, face the same degree of
deprivation.
As already mentioned, poverty status is determined at the level of the household andnot for each individual, based on the assumption that households pool their income. This
assumption may not always be true, however, which could hinder the reliability of working
poverty statistics.
In addition, statistics on the working poverty rate provide an indication of the share of
employed living in poverty but do not convey any information on the characteristics of theemployed, their level of education and skills, their working time or the composition of theirhouseholds. All of this is crucial to determine the reasons behind these workers’ poverty(insufficient working time, insufficient wages, too many household members living on thewages of too few working household members, etc.).

Data visualization and analysis
In 2017, 9 per cent of persons employed around the world were living below theinternational poverty line of US$1.90. There are no significant differences in the global
working poverty rate for men and women but there are notable differences between working
poverty rates among youth and adults: nearly 8 per cent of employed adults around the world
were living in poverty in 2017, compared to 15 per cent of employed youth (figure 14).
The patterns and levels of the working poverty rate vary considerably across regions.
The situation is particularly worrying in Africa, where nearly 32 of the employed are poor.
Such high shares of working poverty reflect widespread problems related to working
conditions, employment quality and low productivity.

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Figure 14.

Working poverty rates (percentage of employed living below US$1.90 at PPP) for men, women,
youth and adults, in the world and by region (2017)

40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
World

AfricaMale

AmericasFemaleYouthArab States
AdultsAsia and the PacificTotal

Source: ILO modelled estimates, May 2018.

2.3.2. Participation in education and training
The ILO’s involvement in the compilation of SDG global indicator 4.3.1 (participation
rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal education and training in the previous
12 months, by sex) is limited to providing comments and inputs, upon request, on themeasurement of the participation of youth in training activities. 85 However, beyond thestatistical measurement of this indicator, the ILO works closely with countries on skills
development and vocational training.
Indicator number and title: 4.3.1 Participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal educationand training in the previous 12 months, by sex
Tier: II
According to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), 86
education is defined as organized and sustained communication designed to bring about

85

For more information, see the metadata sheet for indicator 4.3.1 on the SDG Indicators metadata
repository at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/.
86

For more information on the latest version of the International Standard Classification of Education(ISCED-2011), see http://uis.unesco.org/en/topic/international-standard-classification-educationisced.

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learning. Formal education is defined in ISCED as education that is institutionalized,
intentional, and planned through public organizations and recognized private bodies and, intheir totality, make up the formal education system of a country. Non-formal education, likeformal education, is defined in ISCED as education that is institutionalized, intentional andplanned by an education provider but is considered an addition, alternative and/or acomplement to formal education. It may be short in duration and/or low in intensity and it istypically provided in the form of short courses, workshops or seminars. Informal learning isdefined in ISCED as forms of learning that are intentional or deliberate, but notinstitutionalized. It is thus less organized and less structured than either formal or non-formal
education. Informal learning may include learning activities that occur in the family, in theworkplace, in the local community, or on a self-directed, family-directed or socially-directedbasis. The coverage of this indicator excludes persons in informal education.
Persons are considered to be in training if they are in a non-academic learning activity
through which they acquire specific skills intended for vocational or technical jobs.
Vocational training prepares trainees for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities,
and for skilled operative jobs, both blue and white collar, related to a specific trade,occupation or vocation. Technical training, on the other hand, imparts learning that can beapplied in intermediate-level jobs, in particular those of technicians and middle managers.
The coverage of vocational and technical training includes only programmes that are solely
school-based vocational and technical training.
Global SDG indicator 4.3.1 is a useful indicator not only of the status of education but
also of the status of the labour market. The participation rates of youth in formal and nonformal education and training, interpreted alongside youth NEET rates and youth
unemployment rates, provide an indication of the socio-economic situation of youth and theextent of their social and economic inclusion.

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3. Labour market indicators requiring
methodological development (tier III)The SDG global indicator framework is forward-looking: it includes not only alreadyindicators with an established methodology that are already widely used but also new
indicators that are deemed necessary to measure emerging challenges, classified as tier III
indicators. In some cases, these new indicators have a suggested draft methodology that has
not yet been adopted at the international level; in other cases, they have only some vague
methodological guidelines, or no methodology at all. Thus, the level of methodologicaldevelopment and work required varies across tier III indicators. 87
The ILO is the sole custodian agency of two tier III indicators (indicators 8.8.2 and8.b.1). It is one of the custodian agencies for two other tier III indicators (indicators 10.7.1
and 14.c.1) and it is a partner agency for one tier III indicator (indicator 16.10.1). The
methodological development plans for these indicators are briefly described in the following
sections.
Table 7.

List of tier III indicators for which the ILO is the sole custodian agency, one of the custodian
agencies, or a partner agency

Indicator
numberIndicator title

Custodianagency/ies

8.8.2

Level of national compliance of labour rights (freedom of associationand collective bargaining) based on International Labour Organization(ILO) textual sources and national legislation, by sex and migrant status

ILO

8.b.1

Existence of a developed and operationalized national strategy for youth
employment, as a distinct strategy or as part of a national employment
strategy

ILO

10.7.1

Recruitment cost borne by employee as a proportion of yearly income
earned in country of destination

ILO and World
Bank

III

14.c.1

Number of countries making progress in ratifying, accepting andimplementing through legal, policy and institutional frameworks, oceanrelated instruments that implement international law, as reflected in the
United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea, for the conservationand sustainable use of the oceans and their resources

UN-DOALOS,
FAO, UNEP, ILO,
and other
UN-OceansagenciesIII

16.10.1

Number of verified cases of killing, kidnapping, enforced disappearance,
arbitrary detention and torture of journalists, associated media
personnel, trade unionists and human rights advocates in the previous
12 months

OHCHR

87

The workplans for tier III indicators as ofhttps://unstats.un.org/sdgs/files/meetings/iaeg-sdgs-meeting04/Tier%20III%20Work%20Plans%2011.11.2016.pdf.

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JulyPartneragency/ies

Tier
III

World Bank,
OECD

2018

ILO, UNESCOUIS

areavailable

III

III

at

63

3.1. Compliance with labour rights
Labour rights and their implementation in practice are part and parcel of decent work,and they are at the core of workers’ well-being and human dignity. It is thus important tohave a reliable measure for the monitoring of compliance with labour rights. In this regard,
indicator 8.8.2 provides information on the status of freedom of association and collective
bargaining rights in law and practice around the world, as well as information on
improvements or deterioration in such compliance over time.
Indicator number and title: 8.8.2 Level of national compliance with labour rights (freedom of associationand collective bargaining) based on International Labour Organization (ILO) textual sources and national
legislation, by sex and migrant status
Tier: IIIThe indicator would be defined according to the principles contained in the ILO
Conventions on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention,
1948 (No. 87), and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949
(No. 98), and related principles of application. 88
Freedom of association represents the right of workers and employers to form and joinorganizations of their own choosing, an integral part of a free and democratic society. In
many cases, these organizations have played a significant role in their countries’ politicaland economic development. Collective bargaining refers to all negotiations which take place
between an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organizations, on the
one hand, and one or more workers’ organizations, on the other.
This indicator constitutes a score of compliance with labour rights, with a scale ranging
from zero to 10 (best and worst possible scores, respectively). The scores would be assigned
based on the standardized coding of violations to freedom of association and collective
bargaining rights found in ILO textual sources and national legislation according to theevaluation criteria. The evaluation criteria and their corresponding weights are intended tofollow a robust methodology and are intended to be adopted at the international level before
the indicator can be considered reliable.
The indicator would be defined according to the principles pertaining to freedom of
association and collective bargaining rights, as defined by the ILO and the related body ofcomments of the ILO supervisory bodies.
The coding is based on violations reported in trustworthy ILO textual sources,
excluding all other violations reported in external reports. Depending on national
circumstances, this could also imply, in certain cases, a degree of underestimation of labour
rights violations. In such cases, the indicator should be analysed alongside information
related to the national context and the national legal framework.
The suggested methodology for this indicator is expected to be presented at the 20th
International Conference of Labour Statisticians for discussion and potential adoption.

3.2. National strategies for youth employment
The situation of youth in the labour market is a major concern in many countries aroundthe world. In many regions around the world, youth are particularly vulnerable to hardships

88

64

Both Conventions are available at https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=1000:12000:::NO.

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related to the labour market and face specific difficulties in accessing the labour market,
especially with high-quality employment. In this context, national strategies for youth
employment play a key role in ensuring that youth are not left behind by contributing to theirintegration into the labour market and society. Indicator 8.b.1 aims to provide information
on whether efforts have been made by governments to improve the situation of youth in thelabour market.
Indicator number and title: 8.b.1 Existence of a developed and operationalized national strategy for youth
employment, as a distinct strategy or as part of a national employment strategy
Tier: IIIThe purpose of indicator 8.b.1 is to provide information on the extent to which countries
are focusing on youth employment issues, and the progress made in this regard.
This indicator is intended to be a binary indicator, with two possible values (1- yes or
0- no) to convey whether the country has a national strategy for youth employment and isacting on it or not.
International monitoring of youth employment policies was carried out over the period
2010–12 by the Youth Employment Network (YEN) – a partnership between the ILO, theUnited Nations and the World Bank – based on information compiled through aquestionnaire sent to national authorities (mainly ministries of development, labour orplanning). Subsequently, at the request of its constituents, the ILO established YouthPOL, aglobal repository of policies affecting youth employment, 89 which covers 65 countries as ofits most recent update of August 2016. The ILO also maintains a dataset of broader national
employment policies not strictly related to youth, which covers 117 countries as of its mostrecent update of December 2016.
For the purpose of this indicator, a “developed strategy” is expected to be defined as an
officially-adopted document that articulates a set of measures and provisions aimed atpromoting youth employment, usually within a defined timeframe. It may exist on its own
or as part of a wider employment or development strategy. An “operationalized strategy” isexpected to be defined as an action plan with resources earmarked and institutional
responsibilities clarified.
The corresponding values for the indicator should be determined on the basis of
information received from governments on officially adopted strategy documents. These
strategy documents would then be analysed to establish whether or not they constitute adeveloped and operationalized national strategy. Information on whether the strategy is partof the national employment or development plan or whether it constitutes a separate
document would also be recorded.
This indicator makes no attempt to assess the impact of a national strategy.
Furthermore, some governments may have de facto national strategies for youth employment
but lack an officially adopted de jure document. This indicator only assesses de jurestrategies and could potentially convey a skewed image of countries’ efforts to improve thesituation of youth in the labour market.
The suggested methodology for this indicator is planned to be presented at the20th International Conference of Labour Statisticians, which will be held in Geneva in 2018,
for discussion and potential adoption.

89

YouthPOL is available online at http://www.ilo.org/dyn/youthpol/en/f?p=30850:1001:0::NO:::.

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65

3.3. Recruitment costMore and more workers and their families are leaving their countries every day in thehopes of finding employment abroad with higher remuneration than what is available locallyand with improved working and living conditions. Labour migration is driven by manydifferent phenomena, including globalization, demographic shifts, conflicts, income
inequalities and climate change. Migrant workers contribute to growth and development intheir countries of destination, while countries of origin benefit greatly from their remittances
and the skills acquired during their period of work abroad if they subsequently return to theircountry of origin.
Nevertheless, the migration process can be problematic in terms of governance,
integration and migrant workers’ protection and often entails significant costs for the migrant
worker. 90 It is therefore important to have reliable measures to quantify the recruitment costborne by the migrant employee, as an approximate estimation of the hardships of the
migration process and the extent to which migration does indeed entail improved living
conditions for the migrant worker. This is the aim of indicator 10.7.1.
Indicator number and title: 10.7.1 Recruitment cost borne by employee as a proportion of yearly income
earned in country of destination
Tier: IIIThe preliminary work to develop this indicator was led by the Global Knowledge
Partnership on Migration and Development (KNOMAD), on the basis of consultations
involving numerous stakeholders, including the ILO and the World Bank.
The suggested methodology implies conducting small sample surveys in many
countries (in collaboration with relevant ministries), interviewing workers to learn about
their labour migration costs. The idea is to compile reliable information on the monetary andnon-monetary migration costs incurred by migrants. The components of migration costs
include recruitment costs (costs associated with recruitment agency fees, passports, visas,
air transportation, medical examinations, etc.); wages foregone due to underpayment, latepayment or non-payment of wages; and lack of compensation for work-related sickness or
injuries. Expressing the recruitment costs as a percentage of yearly income earned in the
country of destination provides an indication of the benefits of labour migration to workers
compared to its costs; more precisely, it reveals what share of the expected income in the
country of destination is needed to pay for migration costs rather than directly benefiting
migrant workers through wages.
Drawing on the ILO/KNOMAD experience in conducting small-scale recruitment costsurveys, the ILO and World Bank have prepared an initial concept note on this indicator,
including a conceptual framework and a draft measurement methodology that defines key
items for data collection. The draft guidelines include details on objectives and uses,
concepts and definitions, data collection methods and programmes, data collection items,
and indicators and data dissemination, with a view to their endorsement by national
statistical offices before the end of 2018. Moreover, these guidelines will be refined througha number of pilot tests planned by selected NSOs, so there will be room for revisions as data
sources, data collection methods and methodologies improve.

90

For further details on labour migration, refer to the webpage of the Labour Migration Branch of the
ILO, at http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/labour-migration/lang--en/index.htm.

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3.4. Law of the sea
Promoting the conservation and sustainable use of oceans and maritime resources is a
key element of sustainable development. The ratification and implementation of the maininternational legal instruments pertaining to the law of the sea, the conservation of maritime
resources and the conditions of maritime workers are at the core of the efforts to ensure thepreservation of oceans, and this is what indicator 14.c.1 is intended to convey.
Indicator number and title: 14.c.1 Number of countries making progress in ratifying, accepting andimplementing through legal, policy and institutional frameworks, ocean-related instruments that
implement international law, as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, for theconservation and sustainable use of the oceans and their resources
Tier: IIIThe work to develop a sound methodology for indicator 14.c.1 is being led by theDivision for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (UN-DOALOS) of the United Nations
Secretariat. The ILO’s involvement in this indicator is limited to the conditions of seafarers,
in particular the ratification and implementation of the ILO Maritime Labour Convention of
2006.
The Maritime Labour Convention has a strong enforcement component. The ILO’s
supervisory mechanism monitors the effective compliance of countries which have ratified
the Convention. The tripartite component of the ILO and its supervisory system legitimizes
the process.
Information on the number of countries which have ratified the ILO Maritime Labour
Convention is readily available in NORMLEX (the ILO’s Information System on
International Labour Standards) 91 and is continuously updated.

3.5. Verified cases of killings and kidnapping
Peaceful and inclusive societies are essential for sustainable development because they
ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance withnational legislation and international agreements. Goal 16, in particular Target 10, focuseson this area. Any occurrence of killing, kidnapping, forced disappearance, arbitrary
detention or torture of journalists, associated media personnel, trade unionists or humanrights advocates is a threat to development and human dignity. Thus, it is important to havereliable and quantifiable information on these atrocities so as to target them for elimination.
This is what indicator 16.10.1 seeks to do.
Indicator number and title: 16.10.1 Number of verified cases of killing, kidnapping, enforced
disappearance, arbitrary detention and torture of journalists, associated media personnel, trade unionists
and human rights advocates in the previous 12 months
Tier: IIIThe work to develop a sound methodology for indicator 16.10.1 is being led by theindicator’s sole custodian agency, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for

91

NORMLEX is available online and the ratifications for the Maritime Labour Convention can beseenat
http://ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:11300:0::NO:11300:P11300_INSTRUMENT_I
D:312331:NO.

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Human Rights (OHCHR). The involvement of the ILO in this indicator is limited to the part
dealing with trade unionists.
A working group (the Praia Group on Governance Statistics) was set up in March 2015
for the purposes of discussing and deciding on the standards and methods to be used to
produce statistics on governance, peace and security (particularly for indicators under Goal
16).
Concerning indicator 16.10.1, the Praia Group involves national statistical offices inthe development of the indicator’s methodology as well as many other national stakeholders(human rights institutions, for instance). The development of the methodology for indicator16.10.1 includes dealing with the lack of standard definitions, methodologies and practices,
the lack of standard guidelines for data disaggregation by characteristics of victims,
perpetrators and type of abuse and the need to ensure the protection of human rights in thedata compilation and dissemination processes (data confidentiality issues, among others). It
also implies determining ways to reconcile data from various sources (avoiding duplicationof records) and to expand country coverage of the data so as to allow the production ofreliable global estimates.

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4. Labour market indicators for which the ILO is notcustodian or a partner agency (but is involved)
On the basis of its mandate (mainly that of promoting decent work for all men andwomen around the world), the ILO is involved in statistical activities pertaining to various
SDG indicators not listed in the sections above, that is, indicators for which it is not custodian
or a partner agency, including participation in data compilation, metadata maintenance andmethodological development work. Thanks to close inter-agency collaboration, the ILO
shares its expertise on many SDG indicators, working in cooperation with the relevant
custodian and partner agencies in each case.
This is the case, for example, of indicator 5.4.1 on the proportion of time spent on
unpaid domestic and care work, by sex, age and location (for which UNSD and UN-Women
are joint custodian agencies) and indicator 9.2.2 on manufacturing employment as aproportion of total employment (for which UNIDO is the custodian agency).

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5. Cross-cutting nature of the SDG labour
market indicators
An essential element of the 2030 Agenda is that many of the Goals and Targets areinterrelated: as progress made towards the achievement of one specific Goal is likely to havean impact elsewhere in the Agenda. Many Goals and Targets are especially cross-cutting
and underlie other Goals and Targets beyond those in which they are explicitly stated.
Although it is very difficult to measure all these interrelationships among the Goals andTargets, it is important to keep them in mind when interpreting SDG indicators since theyhold true for the indicators as well.
The following sections briefly discuss the interdependencies among SDG labour
market indicators, as well as their links with other SDG (non-labour market) indicators.

5.1. Links and interdependencies among the
SDG labour market indicators
The list of SDG labour market indicators (as described in the preceding sections) covers
a wide range of indicators pertaining to employment, decent work and the economy. When
analysed together, they provide a fairly comprehensive overview of the labour market
situation. The indicators present valuable information on labour underutilization(indicator 8.5.2 on the unemployment rate) as well as on the quality of employment,
including remuneration (indicator 8.5.1 on hourly earnings and 1.1.1. on working poverty),
occupational safety and health (indicator 8.8.1 on occupational injuries), productivity(indicator 8.2.1 on labour productivity) and working conditions in general (indicator 8.3.1
on informal employment). The indicators also provide information on legal frameworks(indicator 8.8.2 on labour rights compliance), the national context of social security(indicator 1.3.1 on social protection coverage) and policy priorities (indicator 8.b.1 on youth
employment strategies). The situation of youth can be studied more in depth throughindicator 8.6.1 on the youth NEET rate, while the labour market segregation by gender canbe assessed through indicator 5.5.2 on the share of women in managerial positions. Workthat should be abolished can be analysed with indicator 8.7.1 on child labour.
Many of these indicators are intrinsically related to others, which is why it is important
to interpret them as a coherent set so as to paint a comprehensive picture. In many cases,
interpreting a given labour market indicator along with others sheds light on patterns andhelps to avoid misinterpretations.
For instance, trends in labour productivity (indicator 8.2.1) should be interpreted
alongside the labour income share (indicator 10.4.1), the unemployment rate(indicator 8.5.2) and hourly earnings (indicator 8.5.1) in order to understand if gains inlabour productivity were due to an improvement in skills and human capital or to a decreasein employment for the same levels of GDP, and whether they benefitted the workers throughincreased wages and labour share.
Similarly, the information conveyed by indicator 5.5.2 on the share of women in
managerial positions should be interpreted along with data disaggregated by sex on working

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poverty (indicator 1.1.1), informal employment (indicator 8.3.1.), and hourly earnings(indicator 8.5.1), thereby creating a full picture of the extent of gender equality in the labour
market in terms of equal opportunities and equal working conditions.
The situation of youth can be analysed from both a policy and labour market
perspective by combining assessments of the national strategy for youth employment(indicator 8.b.1), youth unemployment (indicator 8.5.2), the youth NEET rate(indicator 8.6.1) and youth hourly earnings (indicator 8.5.1). Such joint analysis can help
develop an understanding of whether youth labour market issues are the result of insufficient
policies, a lack of suitable jobs, inadequate earnings, or a combination of these factors.

5.2. SDG labour market indicators underlying(non-labour market) targets and goals
The SDG global indicators framework is made up of a coherent, integrated set ofindicators that, when analysed as a whole, provide a comprehensive picture of the progress
made towards the achievement of sustainable development and its components. Sustainable
development is seen as an indivisible objective and all areas of sustainable development
must therefore be aligned. The quest for progress in each area should take into account thepossible effects on all other areas.
These interdependencies can be seen in the relationships among SDG indicators. In
particular, when it comes to the labour-related SDG global indicators, these have a clear
impact on the Goals and Targets not strictly related to the labour market since decent work
underlies many aspects of human life, growth and development. Similarly, developments
measured by many other indicators that do not focus directly on decent work have an impact
on the labour market. For example, trends measured by the indicators under Target 2.3 ondoubling the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers are closely
linked to labour productivity and average hourly earnings.
Parity indices included in indicator 4.5.1 on education have a clear impact on the labour
market and are particularly related to indicators on labour market segregation (such as thefemale share in senior and middle management). It is important to understand the extent towhich parity in education translates into parity in the labour market.
Indicator 5.4.1 on the proportion of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work isalso of great interest when analysing the whole spectrum of decent work. The unpaid careeconomy is a major concern for policy-makers seeking to build sound, inclusive labour
markets, so that the analysis of this indicator together with the relevant labour market
indicators may inform policy formulation in this regard. 92
The 2030 Agenda also deals in particular with some specific sectors of the economy orgroups of workers, such as the health sector (indicator 3.c.1), tourism (indicator 8.9.2) andmanufacturing (indicator 9.2.2). These clearly have an impact on the labour market as awhole and on the overall objective of decent work for all men and women. Thus, they should
be interpreted alongside the other relevant labour market indicators listed in this Guide.

92

The ILO report Care work and care jobs for the future of decent work (Geneva, 2018) takes acomprehensive look at unpaid and paid care work. It is available athttps://www.ilo.org/global/publications/books/WCMS_633135/lang--en/index.htm.

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6. Data disaggregation
The call for data disaggregation is one of the new elements introduced in the SDG
global indicator framework compared to the MDG indicator framework; the MDG indicators
did not require any disaggregation, whereas the SDG indicators often have many
disaggregations required within a given indicator. Indeed, data disaggregation is recognized
as a core element of the SDG global indicator framework that ensures specific coverage ofparticular groups with a view to fulfilling the goal of leaving no one behind. The overarching
principle of data disaggregation of the global indicator framework implies that SDG
indicators should be disaggregated, where relevant, by income, sex, age, race, ethnicity,
migratory status, disability and geographical location, or other characteristics, in accordancewith the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics (in addition to the specificdisaggregations required for each indicator as noted in the indicator titles). 93 However,
although data disaggregation conveys a wealth of useful information for policy-makers andstakeholders, excessive disaggregation may compromise the reliability and comparability ofthe statistics, so it is important to find a balance between the level of detail of the categories
used, and the quality of the data. The following sections briefly present the basic
disaggregations required for SDG labour market indicators as well as some of the morechallenging ones.

6.1. Considerations on the disaggregationof labour statistics
The disaggregation of labour statistics using different classifications is crucial toidentify issues and trends in labour markets concerning specific population groups and to
inform the formulation of targeted policies on those grounds. It also enables the monitoringof progress made towards specific goals, including the reduction of inequalities and theeradication of discrimination.
However, for disaggregated data to be reliable and comparable, it is essential to utilize
internationally-agreed classifications or national classifications that are easily adaptable tointernational standards, as well as internationally-agreed definitions of each category in theclassification.
Many labour-related SDG indicators are derived mainly from household surveys,
which means that data reliability issues may arise for disaggregated groups of the population,
depending on the survey sample size and design. In this context, there is a trade-off between
the reliability of the data produced and the level of detail of the categories used. There arealso data quality issues pertaining to self-reporting by respondents of household surveys,
which is particularly problematic for sensitive topics.

93

See Report of the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators,
document E/CN.3/2016/2, Statistical Commission, forty-seventh session, New York, 8–11 March
2016, available at http://undocs.org/en/E/CN.3/2016/2.

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6.2. Widely available disaggregations
at the international level
Many disaggregations are already widely recognized and used, with standard
classifications and categories applied, resulting in the availability of reliable and comparable
disaggregated data available for a large number of countries, as listed below.

6.2.1. Sex
The disaggregation of labour market indicators by sex is one of the most crucial
disaggregations needed to understand basic patterns in labour markets. It is recommended
for most indicators referring to persons and is already widely available for indicatorscompiled and collected at the national and international levels.

6.2.2. Age
The disaggregation of labour market indicators by age is also an essential
disaggregation revealing a key aspect of labour markets: the extent to which youth, adults
and seniors are integrated into them. The working-age population is widely recognized as
persons aged 15 and above. Even though the specific age bands used for data disaggregation
by age may vary, the youth age band is widely recognized as persons aged 15 to 24(inclusive) and adults are widely recognized as persons aged 25 and over.

6.2.3. Education
For the disaggregation of data by level of education, the use of the latest version of theInternational Standard Classification of Education (ISCED-2011) 94 is recommended,although there may be complications in some cases in adapting national educational systems
to the ISCED.
It is important to note that, even though the level of education should be determined on
the basis of the highest successfully completed level, individuals interviewed for household
surveys sometimes report on the level started or ongoing, hindering the comparability andaccuracy of the results.
This disaggregation is not used as such for the indicators listed in this Guidebook but
is used to determine the education status underlying some indicators (4.3.1. and 8.6.1.).

6.2.4. Occupation
For the disaggregation of data by occupation, the use of the latest version of theInternational Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-08) 95 is recommended. This94

For more information on the latest version of the International Standard Classification of Education(ISCED-2011), see http://uis.unesco.org/en/topic/international-standard-classification-educationisced.
95

For more detailed information on the latest version of the International Standard Classification of
Occupations (ISCO-08), see http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/stat/isco/isco08/.

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73disaggregation is required for indicator 8.5.1 and it is needed for the calculation ofindicator 5.5.2 (ideally using the two-digit level of the ISCO).

6.2.5. Economic activity
For the disaggregation of data by economic activity, the use of the latest version of theInternational Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC, Rev. 4) 96
is recommended, although for the purposes of the SDG indicators discussed in thisGuidebook, the categories agriculture/non-agriculture are sufficient, which means thatreferring to the ISIC is not necessary.

6.2.6. Status in employment
Data disaggregated by status in employment should ideally be based on the latest
version of the International Classification by Status in Employment (ICSE-1993). 97 This
classification is expected to be revised by the 20th International Conference of Labour
Statisticians in October 2018.
In the context of the indicators listed in this Guidebook, it is not specifically required
to disaggregate data by status in employment. However, it is important to separately identify
employees (as opposed to total employment) for indicator 8.5.1, for instance.

6.3. Challenging (but necessary)disaggregations
The list of SDG global indicators, in particular those pertaining to decent work and thelabour market, includes some indicators requiring disaggregations that are very meaningful
analytically but are methodologically challenging given the lack of standard internationalclassifications and definitions of categories.

6.3.1. Urban/rural areas
Even though the disaggregation by geographical location, which distinguishes between
rural and urban areas, is already commonly used by many countries in their own labour
market information systems, definitions of rural and urban areas are defined at the national
level and are highly dependent on the national context. This limits the international
comparability of the data currently available by urban/rural areas.

6.3.2. Migrant status
According to the UN Recommendations on Statistics of International Migration, aninternational migrant is defined as any person who changes his or her country of usual96

For more information on the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic
Activities (ISIC Rev.4) see https://unstats.un.org/unsd/publications/catalogue?selectID=396.
97

For more detailed information on the International Classification of Status in Employment, refer tothe Resolution concerning the International Classification of Status in Employment (ICSE),available
at http://www.ilo.org/global/statistics-and-databases/standards-and-guidelines/resolutions-adoptedby-international-conferences-of-labour-statisticians/WCMS_087562/lang--en/index.htm.

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residence. 98 However, in practice, due to the difficulties of applying this definition formeasurement, many countries choose to define individuals’ migrant status based on theircountry of citizenship or their country of birth. The ILO is currently preparing proposals fordefinitions and classifications on labour migration statistics, to be submitted for discussion(and potential approval) to the 20th International Conference of Labour Statisticians in 2018,
in accordance with the 2013 resolution concerning further work on labour migration
statistics. Since migration, in particular labour migration, is a sensitive topic, this requires
thorough development work that involves the analysis of the different types of sources
available and ways of reliably reporting data. The disaggregation by migrant status is one ofthe disaggregations desired for SDG indicators in the global indicator framework as part ofits overarching principle of data disaggregation. Concerning labour market SDG indicators
in particular, this disaggregation is especially recommended for indicators 8.8.1 and 8.8.2.

6.3.3. Disability status
Even though at the national level there is a wide variety of classifications and categories
used to classify persons according to their disability status, for the purposes of the SDG
labour market indicators, the use of the Washington Group Short Set of Questions on
Disability is recommended. 99 This disaggregation is required for indicators 8.5.1 and 8.5.2.

98

United Nations: Recommendations on Statistics of International Migration, Revision 1 (New York,
1998); available at https://unstats.un.org/unsd/publication/seriesm/seriesm_58rev1e.pdf.
99

The Washington Group on Disability Statistics is a United Nations city group established by theUnited Nations Statistical Commission with a view to addressing the urgent need for internationallycomparable disability statistics. The Washington Group Short Set is a set of six questions meant to be
included in a census or survey questionnaire to identify people with disabilities and gather informationon their disabilities. The short set of questions is available at: http://www.washingtongroupdisability.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/The-Washington-Group-Short-Set-of-Questions-onDisability.pdf. For more information on the Washington Group refer to http://www.washingtongroupdisability.com/.

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7. Considerations on data sources
The characteristics of the statistical sources used to obtain labour market indicators
determine how reliable, comparable and representative the derived data are. Hence, whenreferring to labour statistics, it is crucial to understand the implications of the type of source
used and to keep in mind its methodology and coverage (geographical, population, topics,etc.). The list of SDG labour market indicators involves the production of statistics fromlabour force surveys, along with a number of other sources.
The more traditional sources of statistics are population and establishment censuses andhousehold and establishment surveys, because these collections are specifically designed to
produce statistics. However, a wealth of valuable information can also be derived fromsources not initially created for statistical purposes, such as administrative records and big
data. The following sections briefly present the main advantages and disadvantages of eachtype of source.

7.1. Population census
The population census is a key source of information on the population, usually acting
as the basis for a country’s official statistics. It has universal coverage: all households in acountry are covered in the data collection phase and information on all household members
is gathered. Thanks to this, it can serve as sample frame later on for sample surveys. Its
universal coverage and high representativeness allow for the study of small populationgroups and geographical areas. Nevertheless, because it is such an exhaustive collection, it
is very costly and is thus usually conducted infrequently. Generally, countries conductpopulation censuses every ten years. Also, it collects general information only, not going
into detail for specific topics such as labour, which affects the quality of labour statistics
derived from population censuses.
No SDG labour market indicator calls for the specific use of population censuses as thesource of data; however they can be used as an alternative source for many indicators usuallyderived from labour force surveys, in the absence of such surveys.

7.2. Household surveys
To overcome the high cost of population censuses and to be able to have longer
questionnaires and therefore gather more in-depth information, a sample of the whole
population measured through the census can be selected for a survey. Sample survey
questionnaires are typically much more detailed than censuses and are designed specificallyto collect data on the topics desired. By their nature, household surveys can cover any topic
on which household members can provide information. They are less expensive thancensuses and so they can be more frequent, allowing the study of short-term trends. Due tothe fact that they cover all individuals in sampled households, regardless of their labour
market status, their occupation or the type of establishment they work for, etc., household
surveys provide a consistent framework to study employment, unemployment and persons
outside the labour force simultaneously, also providing many important disaggregations.

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However, the sample design might entail sampling errors, thereby hindering the qualityof the results. In particular, estimates for small groups or areas might have limited reliability
due to their low coverage in the sample. Moreover, the reliability of the results is highly
dependent on the accuracy of the respondents, who might tend to overstate or understatesome particular answers.
Labour force surveys are the main type of household surveys used to derive labour
statistics and as such are the preferred source for many of the indicators described in thisGuidebook (indicators 5.5.2, 8.3.1, 8.5.2, 8.6.1). Other types of household surveys, such as
household income and expenditure surveys, can be used as well provided that they include
the corresponding labour module, which is particularly useful to derive data on working
poverty (indicator 1.1.1).

7.3. Establishment census and surveys
For population censuses and household surveys, the sampling unit is the household, but
statistics can also be collected using the establishment as a sampling unit for topics on which
the establishment or employer holds the information, in particular with regard to income,working time and the number of employees. In general, surveying establishments is lessexpensive than surveying households. Here too, there is the possibility of an exhaustive
exercise covering all establishments in a country (establishment census) or of a collection
focusing only on a representative sample of establishments (establishment survey).
Naturally, establishment censuses are more costly and are typically conducted lessfrequently than establishment surveys but they are more representative.
It is crucial to note that informal sector establishments and small establishments are
rarely covered in establishment censuses and surveys; depending on the national context,
these might represent a considerable share of the labour market. Likewise, establishment
censuses and surveys cover only employees, thus excluding the self-employed (own-accountworkers, contributing family workers, etc.).
Establishment surveys are a very accurate source of statistics on employees’ earnings(indicator 8.5.1) and may also provide data on occupational injuries (indicator 8.8.1).

7.4. Administrative records
Administrative records, such as records of members, activities, staff, etc. of agencies
or institutions, contain variables associated with units and unit identifiers created foradministrative purposes. These are typically not designed for statistical purposes but do havemuch underlying statistical potential and can be used to produce statistics. They areparticularly useful in contexts where there are no regular household or establishment surveys
in place, where they may serve as an alternative data source. In any given country, theadministrative records found are numerous and varied and cover a wide range of topics.
Administrative records are an inexpensive source of statistics since they are created andmaintained by the corresponding agency and information is readily available, which meansthat no further collection effort is needed. By their nature, administrative records usually
have exhaustive coverage of all units in their reference universe, at least in theory (in practice
it is possible to observe less-than exhaustive coverage of administrative records in somecases).
However, given that the records were created for administrative purposes and notstatistical ones, they typically have to undergo statistical processes for the data to actually
become reliable statistics, including the study of definitions, concepts and classifications

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used, editing of data to correct any inconsistencies found, coding variables and creating newones if need be, and deciding on the imputation method to apply for the treatment of missing
data. In addition, the topics covered and the units used depend on the administrative
processes which gave rise to the creation of the record and not on the secondary statisticalproduction.
Information on social protection coverage and social security benefits (indicator 1.3.1)
and data on occupational injuries (indicator 8.8.1) can come from administrative records.

7.5. National accounts
National accounts are a complete, integrated set of accounts created for the purposes ofmeasuring an economy’s performance. They usually comprise production, income,expenditure accounts, capital accounts, financial accounts and balance sheets. They are a
key source of statistics on macroeconomic indicators (indicators 8.2.1, 10.4.1).

7.6. Official estimates
In some cases, where there is no recent household or establishment survey and no
production of reliable statistics from administrative records but there is still a need for labour
statistics, other methods can be used to obtain estimated, imputed or modelled data. The
quality and reliability of the statistics will depend on the estimation and methods used.
The ILO has a long history of deriving model-based estimates and projections of labour
market indicators in order to cater for the data needs of policy-makers and researchers. Theseestimates and projections refer both to country-level data and regional and world aggregates
and are obtained through the use of econometric models. Key ILO modelled estimates
include estimates of the labour force and labour force participation rates, unemployment,
employment-to-population ratios, status in employment, employment by sector, labour
productivity, working poor and working poverty rates. 100
The ILO modelled estimates derived from econometric models provide data on many
SDG labour market indicators, namely working poverty rates (indicator 1.1.1), labour
productivity (indicator 8.2.1) and unemployment rates (indicator 8.5.2). The ILO has also
developed models to derive global and regional estimates for other specific topics related to
the labour market, such as social protection coverage (indicator 1.3.1) and child labour(indicator 8.7.1).

7.7. Big data
With the advent of technology, mobile devices and ubiquitous Internet access, data sets
are growing exponentially, both in number and size, with practically every online transaction
and search being recorded. These types of data are often referred to as “big data”, whichrefers to large data sets that may be used to analyse trends related to human interactions andbehaviour and typically fall outside the scope of traditional data processing and statisticalmethods. Big data can potentially supply a wealth of information related to labour statistics,
for instance on job searches, vacancies and skills. Even though there are still no

For more detailed information on the ILO’s estimates and projections of labour market indicators, see
http://www.ilo.org/empelm/projects/WCMS_114246/lang--en/index.htm andhttp://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---inst/documents/publication/wcms_216451.pdf.
100

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internationally-agreed methodologies and guidelines on deriving labour statistics from big
data, it is rapidly gaining ground as a statistical source.
Regarding the use of big data as a source of labour statistics, the main challenges
include separating valid data from large amounts of data “noise”, establishing theappropriate concepts and definitions and the coverage of the statistics (restricted to persons
with Internet access or having the means to carry out transactions online, etc.). The SDG
global indicator framework does not currently foster the use of big data to derive labour
market indicators.

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8. Concluding remarks
The SDG global indicator framework is a consistent, coherent and integrated
framework. It is indivisible in nature, meaning that indicators pertaining to the same subject
and to interrelated subjects should always be analysed and interpreted together. It is also a
forward-looking framework, aimed at being used at least until the target date of 2030. In thissense, it comprises not only indicators with an established methodology but also indicatorsin need of methodological development before they can start to be compiled.
The global indicator framework was built by pooling data potentially available from awide variety of statistical sources, implicitly requiring the progressive development ofintegrated statistical systems at the national level. This is particularly true for the SDG labour
market indicators, which include measures most reliably derived from household surveys,
establishment surveys, national accounts and administrative records. In order to report on all
the SDG labour market indicators in a timely manner and using comparable, accurate
statistics, countries must have in place a robust labour market information system that
consolidates all available statistical sources.
Given the numerous (and complex) interrelations and interdependencies between the
different indicators, especially between the labour-related indicators, they should always beinterpreted together because each indicator represents a different part of the same puzzle.
Promoting a comprehensive, cross-cutting analysis of economic and labour market
indicators is therefore essential to foster a greater understanding of relevant contexts and toprovide an accurate representation of the failures and successes of labour markets.

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