TAG: GS 3: ECONOMY
THE CONTEXT: The International Labour Organization (ILO), a specialized agency of the United Nations, has revised its forecast for global unemployment.
EXPLANATION:
Highlights of the report
- Initially, the ILO had anticipated an increase in the unemployment rate to 5.2% in 2024.
- However, the latest report released on May 29, 2024, reveals a more optimistic outlook, predicting that the global unemployment rate will instead fall slightly to 4.9%.
- The ILO’s updated projections indicate that the global unemployment rate will stabilize at 4.9% in both 2024 and 2025.
- This adjustment reflects a slight improvement from the 5% unemployment rate recorded in 2023.
- Despite this positive development, the report emphasizes that progress in addressing labor market inequalities remains slow.
- The ILO report highlights significant disparities in labor market participation, particularly affecting women and individuals in low-income countries.
- According to the findings:
- Total Unemployed: 183 million people worldwide are actively seeking work and are immediately available for employment.
- Total Wanting Work: An additional 402 million individuals desire employment but are currently without a job.
- The report underscores that women are disproportionately impacted by unemployment and lack of job opportunities. Specific figures reveal:
- In low-income countries, 22.8% of women who want a job are not employed, compared to 15.3% of men.
- In high-income countries, the figures are 9.7% for women and 7.3% for men.
- These statistics point to a persistent gender gap, with women more likely than men to be involuntarily out of work.
- Furthermore, the ILO cautions that these figures are merely the “tip of the iceberg,” as many women have completely exited the labor force.
- The ILO’s estimates for employment rates in 2024 further illustrate the gender disparity:
- Women of Working Age:6% are employed.
- Men of Working Age:2% are employed.
- These numbers reflect a significant gap in employment rates between men and women, highlighting ongoing challenges in achieving gender equality in the labor market.
Call for Inclusive and Just Policies
- ILO Director emphasized the need for inclusive and socially just policies to ensure that the benefits of economic recovery are widely shared.
- He stated: “Despite our efforts to reduce global inequalities, the labor market remains an uneven playing field. To achieve a sustainable recovery whose benefits are shared by all… we must place inclusion and social justice at the core of our policies and institutions.”
International Labour Organization (ILO)
- The only tripartite U.N. agency, since 1919 the ILO brings together governments, employers and workers of 187 Member States, to set labour standards, develop policies and devise programmes promoting decent work for all women and men.
- It was created in 1919, as part of the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I, to reflect the belief that universal and lasting peace can be accomplished only if it is based on social justice.
- The Constitution of the ILO was drafted in early 1919 by the Labour Commission
- It became the first affiliated specialized agency of the United Nations in 1946.
- Its headquarters is in Geneva, Switzerland
- Its founding mission is “social justice is essential to universal and lasting peace”.
- It promotes internationally recognized human and labour rights.
- It received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1969.
