Unemployment: Commitment for Change and Decent Work

Unemployment and underemployment plague the lives of people in poverty around the world. In developing countries, many work in insecure informal jobs as waste pickers, street vendors, water carriers, shoe-shiners, labourers etc. Vulnerable employment, comprising unpaid family workers and self-employed workers, accounted for an estimated 58% of all employment in the developing regions in 20111 . Workers in these conditions are more likely to lack adequate social protection and often suffer from low pay and poor working conditions.

Whether in formal or informal jobs, many are exploited. A person living in poverty from Poland explained during a research workshop: “When you lose your job, it may cause you to lose your flat, but getting back to work doesn’t guarantee getting out of homelessness. I am an example: I have work, but I’m still homeless.” In Poland, a large part of the workforce are fired and later rehired in a cycle of cheap fixed-term contracts. Workers with these “junk contracts” are usually low-paid, easily replaceable and deprived of social rights. These deliberate attempts to avoid adequate wages and stable work opportunities turn employment into an exploitative rather than an inclusive opportunity. People who live in poverty need more support to organize and protect their rights at work; legislation enabling these activities is critical for their agency in this regard.

With a stand-alone goal on Employment and Decent Work for All, the international community will create the space for more specific targets for this area. Through a participatory research project conducted with over 2,000 people living in poverty in over 14 countries, the International Movement ATD Fourth World identified the following barriers to full employment and decent work for the most excluded:

1. Pervasive violation of workers’ rights and human dignity at work

2. Lacking rights awareness, participation, collective organization, and accountability mechanisms

3. Prominence of precarious and vulnerable work

4. Permanence of an unprotected informal sector

5. Lack of marketable skills and job-training opportunities for people living in poverty

Source:

https://www.4thworldmovement.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Decent-Work-Final.pdf