One in three workers in the world toil for long hours but don't earn enough to escape poverty, according to an annual report on labour market trends released by the International Labour Organization published today.
This fifth edition of the Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM) show that 1.3 billion working poor, who live with their families on less than US$ 2 per day per family member, suffer from “decent work deficits” worldwide.
Decent work is productive and delivers a fair income, security in the workplace and social protection for families as well as allowing people to express their concerns, organize and participate in the decisions that affect their lives, according to the ILO definition.
"Hundreds of millions of women and men are working hard and long but without the conditions they need to lift themselves and their families out of poverty; they risk falling deeper into poverty," said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia. "Releasing their underutilized capacities by raising their productive potential must be at the top of the international development agenda."
The findings also show that one in six of the world's working poor earned less than US$ 1 dollar a day, which is the United Nations definition of abject poverty.
Half of all the workers in the world are vulnerable, as they lack the social protection and safety nets to guard against times of low economic demand and often are incapable of generating sufficient savings for themselves and their families to offset these times, according to ILO statistics.
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