Nepal has 20-35 percent working poverty: Report

Nepal has 20 per cent to 35 per cent working poverty, according to an international report.
World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2017 (WESO), which was published by International Labor Organization (ILO) today, said that 20 per cent to 35 percent of the country's workforce is living on less than $3.10 per day.
The outlook has also highlighted that Nepal has 55 per cent to 70 per cent vulnerable employment. "The percentage of own-account workers and contributing family workers as a share of total employment is more than half," the report added.
However, the report states that Nepal has unemployment rate of 4 per cent. This is equal to the United States and less than the UK and Germany.
According to ILO, persons in employment comprise all persons above a specified age, who during a specified brief period, either one week or one day, were in the following categories, paid employment or self employment.
The report also highlighted that the global unemployment rate is expected to rise modestly from 5.7 per cent to 5.8 per cent in 2017, representing an increase of 3.4 million in the number of jobless people.
The number of unemployed persons globally in 2017 is forecast to stand at just over 201 million - with an additional rise of 2.7 million expected in 2018 - as the labour force growth outpaces growth in job creation, according to the report.
The ILO's World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2017 takes stock of the current global labor market situation, assessing the most recent employment developments and forecasting unemployment levels in developed, emerging and developing countries.
It also focuses on trends in job quality, paying particular attention to working poverty and vulnerable employment.
"We are facing the twin challenge of repairing the damage caused by the global economic and social crisis and creating quality jobs for the tens of millions of new labor market entrants every year,” ILO director-general Guy Ryder said in the report.
“Economic growth continues to disappoint and underperform, both in terms of levels and the degree of inclusion," he said, adding that it paints a worrisome picture for the global economy and its ability to generate enough jobs. "Let alone quality jobs. Persistent high levels of vulnerable forms of employment combined with clear lack of progress in job quality - even in countries where aggregate figures are improving - are alarming. We need to ensure that the gains of growth are shared in an inclusive manner."
The report shows that vulnerable forms of employment – that is contributing family workers and own account workers – are expected to stay above 42 per cent of total employment, accounting for 1.4 billion people worldwide in 2017.
“In fact, almost one in two workers in emerging countries are in vulnerable forms of employment, rising to more than four in five workers in developing countries,” ILO senior economist and lead author of the report Steven Tobin, said.
As a result, the number of workers in vulnerable employment is projected to grow by 11 million per year, with Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa being the most affected.
Turning to policy recommendations, the authors estimate that a coordinated effort to provide fiscal stimulus and an increase in public investment that takes into account each country’s fiscal space, would provide an immediate jump-start to the global economy and reduce global unemployment in 2018 by close to 2 million compared to our baseline forecasts.
However, such efforts should be accompanied by international cooperation.
“Boosting economic growth in an equitable and inclusive manner requires a multi-facetted policy approach that addresses the underlying causes of secular stagnation, such as income inequality, while taking into account country specificities,” Tobin said.

Global unemployment rate projected to rise in both 2016 and 2017

Despite falling unemployment levels in some developed economies, new ILO analysis – World Employment and Social Outlook (WESO) – shows the global job crisis is not likely to end, especially in emerging economies.
Continuing high rates of unemployment worldwide and chronic vulnerable employment in many emerging and developing economies are still deeply affecting the world of work, warns a new International Labour Organisation (ILO) report.
The final figure for unemployment in 2015 is estimated to stand at 197.1 million and in 2016 is forecast to rise by about 2.3 million to reach 199.4 million. An additional 1.1 million jobless will likely be added to the global tally in 2017, according to the ILO's World Employment and Social Outlook-Trends 2016 (WESO).
“The significant slowdown in emerging economies coupled with a sharp decline in commodity prices is having a dramatic effect on the world of work,” says ILO director-general Guy Ryder.
“Many working women and men are having to accept low paid jobs, both in emerging and developing economies and also, increasingly in developed countries," he said, adding that and despite a drop in the number of unemployed in some EU countries and the US, too many people are still jobless. "We need to take urgent action to boost the number of decent work opportunities or we risk intensified social tensions."
In 2015, total global unemployment stood at 197.1 million – 27 million higher than the pre-crisis level of 2007.
The unemployment rate for developed economies decreased from 7.1 per cent in 2014 to 6.7 per cent in 2015. In most cases, however, these improvements were not sufficient to eliminate the jobs gap that emerged as a result of the global financial crisis.
Moreover, the employment outlook has now weakened in emerging and developing economies, notably in Brazil, China and oil-producing countries.
"The unstable economic environment associated with volatile capital flows, still dysfunctional financial markets and the shortage of global demand continues to affect enterprises and deter investment and job creation,” explains director of the ILO Research Department Raymond Torres.
“In addition, policy-makers need to focus more on strengthening employment policies and tackling excessive inequalities," he said, adding that there is much evidence that well-designed labour market and social policies are essential for boosting economic growth and addressing the jobs crisis and almost eight years after the start of the global crisis, a strengthening of that policy approach is urgently needed."
The authors of the WESO also document the fact that job quality remains a major challenge. While there has been a decrease in poverty rates, the rate of decline in the number of working poor in developing economies has slowed and vulnerable employment still accounts for over 46 per cent of total employment globally, affecting nearly 1.5 billion people.
Vulnerable employment is particularly high in emerging and developing economies, hitting between half and three-quarters of the employed population in those groups of countries, respectively, with peaks in Southern Asia (74 per cent) and sub-Saharan Africa (70 per cent).
Meanwhile, the report also shows that informal employment – as a percentage of non-agricultural employment – exceeds 50 per cent in half of the developing and emerging countries with comparable data. In one-third of these countries, it affects over 65 per cent of workers.
“The lack of decent jobs leads people to turn to informal employment, which is typically characterised by low productivity, low pay and no social protection," Ryder said, "This needs to change."
Responding urgently and vigorously to the scale of the global jobs challenge is key to successful implementation of the United Nations’ newly adopted 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” he concludes.