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Human Development
Report 2015
Work for Human Development
Empowered lives. Resilient nations.
The 2015 Human Development Report is the latest in the series of global Human Development Reports published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) since 1990 as independent, analytically and empirically grounded discussions of major development issues, trends and policies. Additional resources related to the 2015 Human Development Report can be found online at http://hdr.undp.org, including complete editions or summaries of the Report in more than 20 languages, a set of background papers and think pieces, commissioned for the 2015 report, interactive maps and databases of human development indicators, full explanations of the sources and methodologies used in the Report’s composite indices, country profiles and other background materials as well as previous global, regional, and National Human Development Reports (NHDRs).
The cover reflects the basic message that work is a fundamental dynamic driver for enhancing human development. The background reflects figure 2.2 in the Report, which shows, based on a panel of 156 countries covering 98 percent of the world population, that over the past 25 years more countries and more people have moved out of the low human development category (from 62 countries with more than 3 billion people in 1990 to 43 countries with a bit more than a billion people in 2014) and that at the same time more countries and more people have moved into the high and very high human development categories combined (from 47 countries with 1.2 billion people in 1990 to 84 countries and more than 3.6 billion people in 2014). In the background the bottom band in light blue represents the first trend, and the green band at the top represents the second trend. In the foreground the circle of human figures as workers in various activities, including creative work and voluntary work, not only is a reminder that their work contributes to the human development progress depicted in the background, but also reflects the dynamism of work and the mutual synergies of various kinds of work.
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Human Development Report 2015 Team
Director and lead author Selim Jahan
Deputy director Eva Jespersen
Research and statistics Shantanu Mukherjee (Team Leader). Milorad Kovacevic (Chief Statistician), Astra Bonini, Cecilia Calderon, Christelle Cazabat, Yu-Chieh Hsu, Christina Lengfelder, Sasa Lucic, Tanni Mukhopadhyay, Shivani Nayyar, Thomas Roca, Heriberto Tapia, Katerina Teksoz and Simona Zampino
Outreach and production Botagoz Abdreyeva, Eleonore Fournier-Tombs, Jon Hall, Admir Jahic, Jennifer Oldfield, Anna Ortubia and Michael Redante
Operations and administration Sarantuya Mend (Operations Manager), Mamaye Gebretsadik, Fe Juarez Shanahan and May Wint Than
ii | HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2015
Foreword
Twenty five years ago the first Human Development Report in 1990 began with a simple notion: that development is about enlarging people’s choices—focusing broadly on the richness of human lives rather than narrowly on the richness of economies. Work is a major foundation for both the richness of economies and the richness of human lives but has tended to be conceptualized in economic terms rather than in human development terms. The 2015 Human Development Report goes beyond that convention in directly link- ing work to the richness of human lives. This Report starts with a fundamental question—how can work enhance human development? The Report takes a broad view of work, going beyond jobs and taking into ac- count such activities as unpaid care work, vol- untary work and creative work—all of which contribute to the richness of human lives. The Report highlights impressive progress on human development over the past quarter century. Today people are living longer, more children are in school and more people have access to clean water and basic sanitation. Per capita income in the world has gone up, and poverty has gone down, resulting in a better standard of living for many people. The digital revolution has connected people across coun- tries and societies. Work has contributed to this progress by building people’s capabilities. Decent work has provided people with a sense of dignity and an opportunity to engage fully in society. Considerable challenges remain, from per- sistent poverty and grinding inequalities to cli- mate change and environmental sustainability in general, and to conflict and instability. These all create barriers to people fully engaging in decent work, and as a result huge amounts of human potential remain untapped. This is of particular concern for young people, women, people with disabilities and others who may be marginalized. The Report argues that if the potential of all people is harnessed through appropriate strategies and proper policies, hu- man progress would be accelerated and human development deficits would be reduced.
The Report reminds us that there is no au- tomatic link between work and human devel- opment. The quality of work is an important dimension of ensuring that work enhances human development. Issues such as discrimi- nation and violence, however, prevent positive links between work and human development. Some work is very damaging to human devel- opment, such as child labour, forced labour and the labour of trafficked workers, all of which constitute serious violations of human rights. In many cases workers in hazardous conditions face serious risks of abuse, insecuri- ty and loss of freedom and autonomy. All these issues are becoming even more critical to address as the world of work, driven by globalization and technological revolution, is undergoing rapid changes. Globalization has generated gains for some and losses for others. The digital revolution has created new opportunities, but has also given rise to new challenges, such as irregular contracts and short-term work, which are asymmetrically distributed between highly skilled and un- skilled workers. The Report makes a strong case that women are disadvantaged in the world of work—in both paid and unpaid work. In the realm of paid work, they are engaged in the workforce less than men, they earn less, their work tends to be more vulnerable and they are underrepresented in senior management and decisionmaking positions. In terms of unpaid work, they bear a disproportionate share of the housework and care work. The Report identifies sustainable work, which promotes human development while reducing and eliminating negative side effects and unintended consequences, as a major building block of sustainable development. Such work would expand opportunities for the present generation without shrinking those for future ones. The Report argues that enhancing human development through work requires policies and strategies in three broad areas—creating work opportunities, ensuring workers’ well-be- ing and developing targeted actions. The first
Foreword | iii
Acknowledgements
The 2015 Human Development Report is the product of the Human Development Report Office (HDRO) at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The findings, analysis and policy recom- mendations of the Report are those of HDRO alone and cannot be attributed to UNDP or to its Executive Board. The UN General Assembly has officially recognized the Human Development Report as “an independent in- tellectual exercise” that has become “an impor- tant tool for raising awareness about human development around the world.” The Report has benefited from a series of con- tributions by eminent people and organizations. Particular appreciation is due for the signed contributions by HE Mr. Benigno S. Aquino III (President of the Philippines), Leymah Gbowee (winner of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize), HE Ms. Roza Otunbayeva (former president of Kyrgyzstan), Nohra Padilla (recipient of the 2013 Goldman Environmental Prize), Orhan Pamuk (winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature), Robert Reich (former United States Secretary of Labor), Kailash Satyarthi (winner of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize) and HE Mr. Maithripala Sirisena (President of Sri Lanka). Appreciations are also extended for con- tributions commissioned from the following authors: Antonio Andreoni, Marizio Atzeni, Fred Block, David Bloom, Jacques Charmes, Martha Chen, Diane Coyle, Christopher Cramer, Peter Evans, Peter Frase, Nancy Folbre, Marina Gorbis, Kenneth Harttgen, Rolph Eric van der Hoeven, Rizwanul Islam, Patrick Kabanda, Claudio Montenegro, Nameera Nuzhat, Dani Rodrik, Jill Rubery, Malcolm Sawyer, Frances Stewart, Miguel Szekely, Marilyn Waring and Lanying Zhang. Discussions with experts in many disciplines are equally necessary and valuable for the development of the Report, starting with an informal sounding round, followed by con- sultations with a designated advisory panel for the 2015 Report. The commitment of time, advice and reviews from the following individ- uals are highly valued: Amartya Sen, Sudhir Anand, Amy Armenia, Martha Chen, Mignon
Duffy, Peter Evans, Nancy Folbre, Gary Gereffi, Enrico Giovannini, Marina Gorbis, James Heintz, Jens Lerche, José Antonio Ocampo, Samir Radwan, Akihiko Tanaka, Lester Salamon, Frances Stewart, Rob Voss, Rebecca Winthrop and Ruan Zongze. The Statistical Advisory Panel plays a critical role in extending expert advice on methodol- ogies and data choices related to the calcula- tion of the Report’s indices. Its members are Wasmalia Bivar, Martine Durand, Haishan Fu, Pascual Gerstenfeld, Ifeyinwa Isiekwe, Yemi Kale, Rafael Diez de Medina, Fiona Robertson and Michaela Saisana. The composite indices and other statistical resources in the Report also rely on the expertise of the leading interna- tional data providers in their specialized fields. To ensure accuracy and clarity, the statistical analysis has also benefitted from discussions of statistical issues with Gisela Robles Aguilar, Sabina Alkire, Jacques Charmes, Kenneth Harttgen, Claudio Montenegro and Yangyang Shen. I deeply appreciate their contributions. The Report also benefitted from dialogues with representatives from national statistical offices to further refine and update source data used for the compilation of internationally generated indicators. The consultations convened during prepa- ration of the Report relied on the generous support of many institutions and individuals who are too numerous to mention here. Events and consultations were held in Accra, Boston, Geneva and Singapore (participants and partners are listed at http://hdr.undp.org/ en/2015-report/consultations). A Report focusing on work would not have been possible without extensive consul- tations and generous investment of time by a wide range of colleagues at the International Labour Organization both in Geneva and New York. Colleagues at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund, United Nations Volunteers and UN Women also offered much valued insights and commentary. Valuable financial contributions were received from the Governments of France and Germany.
Acknowledgements | v
Contributions, support and assistance from UNDP regional bureaus, regional service centres, global policy centres and country offices are acknowledged with gratitude. Special thanks are extended to those UNDP colleagues who constituted the Readers Group for the Report: Nathalie Bouche, Douglas Broderick, Pedro Conceição, George Ronald Gray, Sheila Marnie, Ayodele Odusola, Romulo Paes de Sousa, Thangavel Palanivel and Claudia Vinay. The political read of the Report was done by Ruby Sandhu-Rojon, Mourad Wahba and Kanni Wignaraja and their advice is thankfully acknowledged. Randi Davis, Mandeep Dhaliwal, Karen Dukess, Alberic Kacou, Patrick Keuleers, Brian Lutz, Abdoulaye Mar Dieye and Heather Simpson provided comments, suggestions and guidance on the Report. I am grateful to them. HDRO interns Geneva Damayanti, Qiansheng Hou, Yiying Sana Riaz, Elizabeth Scheib, Elle Wang and Na Yu deserve recogni- tion for their dedication and contribution.
The highly professional editing and produc- tion team at Communications Development Incorporated—led by Bruce Ross-Larson, with Joe Caponio, Christopher Trott and Elaine Wilson—editor Peter Stalker and designers Gerry Quinn, Accurat Design and Phoenix Design Aid are of course of critical importance for producing a report that is both attractive and highly readable. Most of all, I am grateful to UNDP Administrator Helen Clark for her leadership and vision and for her advice, guidance and support and to the entire HDRO team for their dedication and commitment in produc- ing a report that strives to further the advance- ment of human development.
Selim Jahan Director Human Development Report Office
vi | HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2015
SPECIAL CONTRIBUTIONS Building peace, restoring hope: women’s role in nation building — Leymah Gbowee 40 Working towards the elimination of child labour — Kailash Satyarthi 42 Inequality and labour markets — Robert Reich 66 Creative work — Orhan Pamuk 96 Central Asia: emerged region, emerging challenges and opportunities for women — Roza Otunbayeva 116 Community participation for improving rural livelihoods—lessons from the past — Maithripala Sirisena 134 Recyclers: from waste pickers to global agents of sustainable development — Nohra Padilla 138 Building skills and protecting workers for inclusive growth — Benigno S. Aquino III 158
BOXES 1 Human development— a comprehensive approach 2 2 Measuring human development 3 3 Possible measures at the country level for moving towards sustainable work 21 4 Flexicurity in Denmark 23 5 The four pillars of the Decent Work Agenda 23 1.1 What is work? 30 1.2 Measures of quality of work 35 1.3 What brings happiness— having a job or something beyond it? 36 2.1 Uneven access to the digital revolution 59 2.2 Impact of long-term youth unemployment 64 2.3 Alternative measures of human well-being 72 3.1 An encapsulated history of work 78 3.2 The fourth industrial revolution 82 3.3 Bosnia and Herzegovina— local development through outsourcing 85 3.4 Challenges for start-ups in the Arab States 92 3.5 Initiatives to improve crowdworking 92 4.1 Monetary valuation of unpaid care work 117 4.2 Credits for long-term elder care in Japan 120 4.3 Paid parental leave, including mandatory paternity leave 123 5.1 The Sustainable Development Goals and human development 132 5.2 Transforming ship breaking: promoting sustainable work by implementing standards 140 5.3 Implementing Tajikistan’s National Programme on Application of Renewable Energy Sources 143 5.4 Big data: some applications for work and the Sustainable Development Goals 145 6.1 National employment strategies 152 6.2 Self-employment programme of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 153 6.3 Labour standard to tackle informal economy— a new milestone 154 6.4 M-Pesa—an innovative approach to financial inclusion 155 6.5 Remaining competitive by improving working conditions 156 6.6 Cambodia—a success story in the globalized world of work 157 6.7 Protecting the rights of sex workers 162 6.8 The Self-Employed Women’s Association— the world’s largest trade union of informal workers 164 6.9 Rural Employment Opportunities for Public Assets in Bangladesh 166 6.10 National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in India— a milestone 167 6.11 Chile’s reforms to the reform: more solidarity, more contributions 168 6.12 How Montenegrins value tertiary education 169 6.13 Bolsa Família— Brazil’s conditional cash transfer programme 170 6.14 Suggested measures for reducing inequalities 170 6.15 Positive parental leave systems 172
6.16 Cash for care work 172 6.17 Gender policies in Norway 173 6.18 Turkey’s private sector initiative on overcoming skills mismatch at the local level 174 6.19 The “social wage” of work 176 6.20 Possible measures at the country level for moving towards sustainable work 177 6.21 Flexicurity in Denmark 180 6.22 Four pillars of the Decent Work Agenda 180
FIGURES 1 Work engages people all over the world in different ways 2 2 Work and human development are synergistic 3 3 Corrosive and exploitative work shatters human development 6 4 Speed of adoption of new technologies in the United States 7 5 The 20 jobs most and least likely to be replaced by automation 11 6 Women’s representation in senior management in business, by region, 2015 12 7 The matrix of sustainable work 14 8 Policy options for enhancing human development through work 17 9 Number of countries having ratified International Labour Organization conventions, 1990 and 2014 19 1.1 Work encompasses more than just jobs 31 1.2 Workers from countries with low pension coverage tend to stay in the labour market after age 65, while workers from countries with high pension coverage tend to retire earlier 32 1.3 Work and human development are synergistic 33 1.4 Corrosive and exploitative work shatters human development 41 1.5 Women and girls account for a larger share of forced labour than men and boys, 1.6 Annual profits from forced labour have been highest in Asia and the Pacific since 2006 44 1.7 Over 2007–2010 a substantial number of trafficked victims were trafficked for sexual exploitation 45 2.1 Progress on the Human Development Index since 1990 has been fairly steady over time and across all developing regions 56 2.2 Between 1990 and 2014 the number of people living in countries in higher human development classifications rose, while the number of people living in countries in the low human development classification fell 56 2.3 There is no automatic link between income and human development, 2014 57 2.4 Income poverty in Kyrgyzstan would be much higher without remittances 58 2.5 Disaggregated Human Development Index values can unmask national averages: Ethiopia 58 2.6 Children in South Africa are not only disproportionately poor, but also more concentrated in the poorest households, 2012 60 2.7 Access to basic social services in Moldova is unequal by rural–urban locale, 2014 60 2.8 East Asia and the Pacific had the greatest reduction in Human Development Index shortfall among developing country regions over 1990–2014 60 2.9 Rural areas of China have a higher prevalence of multidimensional poverty than urban areas, 2012 62 2.10 Extent of human deprivations in the world 62 2.11 The youth unemployment rate is highest in the Arab States, 2008–2014 64 2.12 Around 80 percent of the world’s people have just 6 percent of global wealth, 2014 65 2.13 In low human development countries the main driver of a high dependency ratio is a young population, 2014 67 2.14 In 1950 a third of the world’s population lived in cities, in 2000 nearly half were city dwellers and by 2050 more than two-thirds will be 67
viii | HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2015
2.15 Undernourishment and obesity rates vary by region, most recent year available 70 3.1 Although the importance of agriculture to economies may be dropping, the importance of agriculture to workers, albeit declining, remains high 79 3.2 Adoption of new technologies in the United States has been impressively quick 82 3.3 The change in technology penetration around the world between 1995 and 2015 was substantial and holds promise to benefit people around the world 83 3.4 The digital revolution has accelerated the global production of goods and services, particularly digital trade 87 3.5 The digital component of global flows has increased— selected examples 88 3.6 Opportunities for mobile applications for agriculture and rural development 89 3.7 Mobile subscriptions and connections in Sub-Saharan Africa are predicted to rise substantially between 2013 and 2020 89 3.8 Between 1970 and 2014 the number of patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office increased almost fivefold 94 3.9 Japan led the way in total number of patents granted in 2013 94 3.10 The 20 jobs most and least likely to be replaced by automation 99 3.11 In the Netherlands and the United States productivity gains have not translated into higher wages for the most part 100 3.12 The growth rate of productivity has not had the exceptional boost expected with the advent of the digital revolution 100 3.13 Workers overall are getting a smaller share of total corporate income based on analysis from 27 developed countries and 28 developing countries 101 3.14 The income shares of high-skill labour have been going up, while the share of medium- and low-skill labour has been going down 101 3.15 The sharp increase of work compensation to top salary earners has benefited a minority, cumulative change since 1980 101 4.1 Men dominate the world of paid work, and women the world of unpaid work 107 4.2 Women are less likely to be engaged in paid work, as shown by the labour force participation rate 108 4.3 In 2015, 72 percent of working-age (ages 15 and older) men were employed, compared with 47 percent of women 109 4.4 A large part of the wage gap between men and women is unexplained 110 4.5 Women are underrepresented in senior business management across all regions, 2015 111 4.6 Women are less likely to occupy positions of leadership in public service, 2014 111 4.7 Fewer women than men are represented among both early-stage and established entrepreneurs, 2014 112 4.8 Across most parts of the world women are more likely to be in vulnerable employment, 2013 113 4.9 In South Asia agriculture accounts for more than 60 percent of female employment 114 4.10 In rural Malawi women are more frequently unpaid, even when working outside the home, 2008 114 4.11 Women take the major burden of unpaid care work, most recent year available 118
4.12 Men have more time for leisure and social activities than women do across all human development groupings, most recent year available 119 4.13 Grandparents often spend time caring for grandchildren, 2006–2007 119 4.14 The burden of elder care will rise much more quickly in China than in the United States 120 5.1 There is a strong positive association between energy consumption and the Human Development Index for developing countries 136 5.2 The largest share of global employment in agriculture is in East Asia and South Asia 141 6.1 More than 170 countries have ratified the Equal Remuneration Convention of 1951 and the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention of 1958 161 6.2 By 2014, 65 countries had laws prohibiting discrimination in employment based on sexual orientation in at least part of their territory— more than triple the number 15 years ago 162 6.3 Globally, the same general labour law that covers other workers covers only 10 percent of domestic workers, 2010 163 6.4 The relationship between mean years of schooling and labour force participation for women shows a shallow U shape 171
MAPS 5.1 Fertilizer use varies widely 142 5.2 The employment potential of renewable energy is considerable 146
TABLES 1 Sustainable Development Goals 15 1.1 Employment rate of people with disabilities, low- and high-income countries 38 A1.1 Work with exploitation, risks and insecurities 47 A1.2 Different types of employment 51 2.1 Gender Development Index values by region, 2014 59 2.2 Countries with the most people in multidimensional poverty 61 2.3 Human Development Index and Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index values for selected regions, 2014 65 A2.1 Balance sheet of human development 74 4.1 Domestic workers in India by sector, 2004–05 (thousands) 115 4.2 Migrant domestic workers in Gulf Cooperation Council countries 115 A4.1 Time use 125 5.1 Greenhouse gas emissions and employment by sector 135 5.2 Coping with industrywide closures 139 5.3 Number of home solar systems installed and people without access to electricity (selected countries), various years 143 5.4 Jobs generated from clean energy 146 5.5 The demand for teachers 147 5.6 The demand for health workers 148 A6.1 Status of fundamental labour rights conventions 182
Contents | ix
Overview
Work for human
development
Infographic: Dimensions of human development
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BOX 1
Human development—a comprehensive approach
Human development is a process of enlarging people’s choices— as they acquire more capabilities and enjoy more opportunities to use those capabilities. But hu- man development is also the objective, so it is both a process and an outcome. Human development implies that people must influence the process that shapes their lives. In all this, economic growth is an important means to human development, but not the goal.
Human development is development of the people through building human capabilities, for the people by improving their lives and by the people through active participation in the processes that shape their lives. It is broader than other approaches, such as the human resource approach, the basic needs approach and the human welfare approach.
Source: Human Development Report Office.
FIGURE 1
Work engages people all over the world in different ways
Child labour
Forced labour
Sufficient pension
Insufficient pension No pension
Not in early
In school
Forcibly displacedUnemployed
Working poor (less than $2 a day)
Unpaid care workers
Employed nonpoor
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Source: Human Development Report Office.
2 | HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2015
The notion of work is
broader and deeper
than that of jobs
dozen global Human Development Reports and more than 700 national Human Development Reports have been produced over the past 25 years. They have contributed
to the development discourse, assessed de- velopment results, spurred research and in- novative thinking and recommended policy options.
Work, not just jobs, contributes to human progress and enhances human development
From a human development perspective, the notion of work is broader and deeper than that of jobs or employment alone. Jobs provide in- come and support human dignity, participation and economic security. But the jobs framework fails to capture many kinds of work that have important human development implications —as with care work, voluntary work and such creative work as writing or painting. The link between work and human devel- opment is synergistic. Work enhances human development by providing incomes and live- lihoods, by reducing poverty and by ensuring equitable growth. Human development—by enhancing health, knowledge, skills and awareness —increases human capital and broadens opportunities and choices (figure 2).
FIGURE 2
Work and human development are synergistic
Work
Better health Better knowledge and skills Awareness Human capital Opportunities Choice
Income and livelihood Security Women’s empowerment Participation and voice Dignity and recognition Creativity and innovation
H uma nde ve l opment
Source: Human Development Report Office.
BOX 2
Measuring human development
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite index focusing on three basic dimensions of human development: to lead a long and healthy life, mea- sured by life expectancy at birth; the ability to acquire knowledge, measured by mean years of schooling and expected years of schooling; and the ability to achieve a decent standard of living, measured by gross national income per capita. The HDI has an up- per limit of 1.0. To measure human development more com- prehensively, the Human Development Report also presents four other composite indices. The Inequality- adjusted HDI discounts the HDI according to the ex- tent of inequality. The Gender Development Index compares female and male HDI values. The Gender Inequality Index highlights women’s empowerment. And the Multidimensional Poverty Index measures nonincome dimensions of poverty.
Source: Human Development Report Office.
Overview | 3
Worldwide, 11 children
under age 5 die every
minute, and 33 mothers
die every hour
children have not learned basic skills—even though 130 million of them have spent at least four years in school. One critical human deprivation is not using, misusing or underusing the deep human poten- tial of people for human development–enhanc- ing work. In 2015, 204 million people were out of work, including 74 million young people— based on formal unemployment data. About 830 million people in the world are working poor—living on less than $2 a day—and more than 1.5 billion are in vulnerable employment, usually lacking decent working conditions and adequate voice and social security. Unleashing this potential becomes even more important when considering the emerg- ing human development challenges. Take the rising inequalities in income, wealth and opportunity. Today around 80 percent of the world’s people have only 6 percent of the world’s wealth. The share of the richest 1 per- cent is likely to be more than 50 percent by
- In the world of work, wages lag behind productivity, and workers’ shares in income have been falling. Population growth, driven mostly by South Asia and increasingly by Sub-Saharan Africa, will have major implications for human development—for work opportunities, the care gap between care needs and care providers and the provision of social protection. Recent estimates indicate that there is a global shortage of 13.6 million care workers, causing extreme deficits in long-term care services for those over age 65. Greater longevity, ageing, the youth bulge and dependency ratios will all have impacts. In 2050 more than two-thirds of the world’s population—or 6.2billion people —are expected to live in urban areas, stressing the coping capacities of cities. Human security is under threat from many sources. At the end of 2014, 60 million people had been displaced worldwide. Between 2000 and 2013 the cumulative death tolls from glob- al and national violent extremism rose more than fivefold, from 3,361 to 17,958. Violence against women is one of the most brutal threats to human development. One in three women has been subject to physical or sexual violence. Human development is undermined by mul- tiple shocks, vulnerabilities and risks—by epi- demics, by emerging health risks, by economic
and financial crises and by food and energy insecurities. For example, noncommunicable (or chronic) diseases are now a global health risk, killing 38 million people each year, almost three-quarters of them (28 million) in low- and middle-income countries. Almost 30 percent (2.1 billion) of the world’s people are obese, more than three-fifths of them in developing country regions. Around the world communities are becom- ing more vulnerable to the effects of climate change, including the loss of biodiversity—the lifeline of many poor communities. Around 1.3 billion people live on fragile lands. Millions are affected by natural disasters.
Work can enhance human development, but some work damages it— the link between the two is not automatic
The link between work and human devel- opment is not automatic. It depends on the quality of work, the conditions of work, the societal value of work and so on. Whether peo- ple have a job is important, as are other issues. For example: Is work safe? Are people fulfilled and satisfied by their work? Are there prospects for advancement? Does employment support a flexible work–life balance? Are there equal opportunities for women and men? The quality of work also includes whether a job provides dignity and a sense of pride and whether it facilitates participation and inter- action. To strengthen the link with human development, work also has to enhance envi- ronmental sustainability. Work strengthens its link with human development when it goes beyond individual benefits to contribute to shared social objectives, such as poverty and inequality reduction, social cohesion, culture and civilization. Conversely, the value of work is diminished and its link with human development becomes weaker when there is discrimination and vio- lence at work. The most observable discrimina- tion is along gender lines—in positions, pay and treatment. In the United States female financial specialists’ salaries are only 66 percent of their male counterparts’. But discrimination also occurs along lines of race, ethnicity, disability
Overview | 5
The link between
work and human
development is
not automatic
and sexual orientation. In Latin America the wage gap between indigenous ethnic groups and the rest of the population is estimated at 38 percent. Workplace or occupational violence—in the form of threats and physical or verbal abuse— also weakens the work–human development link. In 2009 some 30 million EU workers experienced work-related violence, such as harassment, intimidation, bullying or physical violence—10 million in the workplace and 20 million outside it. The link also weakens in conflict and post-con- flict situations. Work under such conditions does not always have a definable content, and human development may entail simple survival. Some work in some conditions damages human development. Many people are in work that restricts their life choices. Millions work in abusive and exploitative conditions that violate their basic human rights and destroy their dig- nity, such as child labourers, forced labourers and trafficked workers (figure 3). And millions of domestic, migrant, sex and hazardous-indus- try workers face various risks. The world has around 168 million child labourers, almost 11 percent of the child
population, some 100 million boys and 68 mil- lion girls. Around half are engaged in hazard- ous work. In 2012 about 21 million people worldwide were in forced labour, trafficked for labour and sexual exploitation or held in slavery-like conditions—14 million were subject to labour exploitation and 4.5 million to sexual exploita- tion. Women and girls accounted for a larger share than men and boys. Forced labour is thought to generate around $150 billion a year in illegal profits. After arms and drug trafficking, human trafficking is the most lucrative illicit business worldwide. Between 2007 and 2010 trafficked victims of 136 nationalities were detected in 118 countries, 55–60 percent of them women. Trafficking of illegal migrants has recently surged. Networks of traffickers take money from desperate migrants who try to cross seas and land illegally into other countries. In 2014 some 3,500 people, maybe many more, lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea when traf- ficking boats heading towards Europe, mainly from Libya, capsized or sank. Paid domestic work is an important means of income for millions of workers, the majority
FIGURE 3
Corrosive and exploitative work shatters human development
Violation of human rights
Exploitative wages
Shattered human dignity
Loss of freedom and autonomy Human insecurity
Child labour Forced labour Trafficked workers
Source: Human Development Report Office.
6 | HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2015
