Concepts and definitions
Measuring decent work
Making the invisible visible
The International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) is the global standard-setting body of labour statisticians, and has been convened by the ILO since 1923.
The ICLS agrees the definitions of the basic concepts used by labour statisticians which are then used globally for the analysis and measurement of the world of work. Rafael Diez de Medina, Director of the Department of Statistics, took time during preparations to explain some of the key issues on the agenda and share some of his hopes for the ILO as a knowledge-based organization.
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COVID-19 guidance
The restrictions necessary to combat COVID-19 pose a huge obstacle to data collection operations, precisely when there is a massive increase in demand for information. We reached out to national data producers to understand the impacts of the pandemic on their statistical operations particularly in the domain of labour statistics. While international standards remain a sound reference, we provide additional guidance in a series of technical notes COVID-19: Guidance for labour statistics data collection.
Table of contents
Work and labour underutilization
- Resolution concerning statistics on work relationships
- Resolution concerning statistics of work, employment and labour underutilization
- Resolution concerning statistics of the economically active population, employment, unemployment and underemployment*
- Resolution concerning the measurement of underemployment and inadequate employment situations
- Resolution concerning further work on the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO)
- Resolution concerning the International Classification of Status in Employment (ICSE)
*Replaced by the Resolution concerning statistics of work, employment and labour underutilization
Informality
- Resolution concerning statistics of employment in the informal sector
- Guidelines concerning a statistical definition of informal employment
The ILO established a working group for the revision of the standards for statistics on informality. The revision will lead to the replacement of the existing standards of informality with a coherent set of statistical standards which conceptually and operationally define the different concepts necessary for measurement of work and economic activity in the informal economy.
Hours, pay and prices
- Resolution concerning the measurement of working time
- Resolution concerning the measurement of employment-related income
- Resolution concerning household income and expenditure statistics
- Resolution concerning statistics of labour cost
- Resolution concerning an integrated system of wages statistics
- Resolution concerning consumer price indices
Industrial relations
- Resolution concerning statistics of collective agreements
- Resolution concerning statistics of strikes, lockouts and other action due to labour disputes
- Resolution concerning the methodology of the SDG Indicator 8.8.2 on labour rights
Child labour and forced labour
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Classifications
Country groupings and international classifications used in labour statistics
Country groupings by ILO region and WB income group
International Classification of Status in Employment (ICSE-93, ICSE-18-A and ICSE-18-R)
International Classification of Status at Work (ICSaW-18)
International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-88 and ISCO-08) and skill levels
International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED-97 and ISCED-11)
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Glossary
Simple definitions of key terms in labour statistics
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Indicator descriptions by database
Concise descriptions of concepts and definitions, uses, sources and limitations
Competitiveness indicators (COMP): Labour productivity | Labour cost
Labour market-related SDG indicators (ILOSDG)
ILO modelled estimates and projections (ILOEST)
Labour force statistics (LFS) and Short term labour force statistics (STLFS): Labour force participation rate | Employment-to-population ratio | Employment by economic activity | Employment by occupation | Employment by status | Informality | Unemployment rate | Time-related underemployment rate | Youth NEET rate
Wages and working time (COND): Earnings | Hours of work
Industrial relations data (IRdata)
Occupational safety and health (OSH): Occupational injuries | Labour inspection
Child labour statistics (CHILD)
Gender equality statistics (GEND): Household type
Statistics on unpaid work (UNPAID): Volunteer work
Forthcoming databases
- Labour force statistics – 19th ICLS (ICLS19)
- Rural and urban labour market statistics (RURBAN) – ???
- Disability labour market statistics (DISAB) – with VS
- Education and skills mismatch (SKILLS): ??? Employment by education
- Youth labour market indicators (YouthSTATS) – with QM
- need inflation for COMP ???
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Guides and manuals
In-depth guidance on producing and using labour statistics, including applying international standards
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National sources and methods
Definitions and methods used for official labour statistics
- Volume 1: Consumer price indices (2013)
- Volume 2: Establishment surveys (2012) - Employment, wages, hours of work and labour cost
- Volume 3A: Household surveys (2004) – Economically active population, employment, unemployment and hours of work
- Volume 3B: Labour force surveys (2011) – Source of statistics of the labour force and its components
- Volume 4: Administrative records and related sources (2004) – Employment, unemployment, wages and hours of work
- Volume 5: Population censuses (2004) – Total and economically active population, employment and unemployment
- Volume 6: Household income and expenditure statistics (2003)
- Volume 7: Strikes and lockouts (1999)
- Volume 8: Occupational injuries (1999)
- Volume 9: International labour migration (2020)
- Volume 10: Disability statistics (2015)
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See also