1 Global employment and social trends
Stefan Kühn
Abstract
This chapter presents the state of the world's labour markets, presenting three main findings. First, labour underutilization remains a major challenge, with almost half a billion people having no or insufficient access to paid employment. In addition unemployment, this includes also those in time‐related underemployment, and those in the potential labour force. After years of decline, the rate of labour underutilization is now projected to remain stable. Second, having a job does not guarantee a decent life. Many people are have no choice but to take up jobs that do not offer decent working conditions, as evidenced by the high share of own‐account and contributing family work, informality, or working poverty. Third, persistent and high labour market inequalities can be observed not only with regards to gender or age, but also with regards to geographic location. These profound challenges can undermine social cohesion between and within societies.