Table of Contents
See also
Introduction
Access to employment for all is a key goal of policymakers around the globe. Employment is indeed a core element of our livelihoods and lives. However, having a job is no guarantee of a decent living: job quality is required as well. Working conditions on the job will determine to a great extent our living conditions.
Remuneration is a crucial aspect of working conditions. Decent work is productive work which provides workers with adequate earnings, ensuring satisfactory living conditions for workers and their families. At the same time, monitoring the evolution of wages and earnings provides insights into the extent to which workers benefit from gains in productivity.
The objective of non-discrimination and equal treatment in employment implies that workers should receive equal pay for work of equal value. Disaggregated data for wages statistics serve to assess the extent to which this is true.
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Methods
Wages and Working Time Statistics (COND database)
Concise description of concepts and definitions, uses, sources and limitations for indicators on wages (including minimum wages) and working time.
Labour Market-Related SDG Indicators (ILOSDG database)
Concise description of concepts and definitions, uses, sources and limitations for labour market-related sustainable development indicators.
Decent Work and the Sustainable Development Goals: A Guidebook on SDG Labour Market Indicators
This Guidebook provides a detailed overview of the labour market indicators included in the Sustainable Development Goals Global Indicator Framework. It is intended to serve as a manual of best practices for calculating and interpreting the SDG labour market indicators, with a view to monitoring progress made at the national and international levels towards the achievement of the SDGs.
Sources and Methods Volume 2: Establishment surveys (2012) – Employment, wages, hours of work and labour cost
This volume presents national methodological descriptions of establishment surveys from which statistics of employment, wages, hours of work and labour cost are obtained. It is a revised, enlarged and updated version of the second edition issued in 1995 and contains descriptions for 172 surveys in respect of 84 countries, areas and territories.
Sources and Methods Volume 4: Administrative records and related sources (2004) – Employment, unemployment, wages and hours of work
This volume presents national methodological descriptions of statistics of employment, unemployment, wages and hours of work, derived from administrative records and related sources. It is a revised and updated version of the first edition issued in 1989, and contains 124 descriptions in respect of 102 countries, areas and territories.
Resolution concerning the measurement of employment-related income (including amendments)
Adopted by the 16th ICLS (1998), this resolution provides international guidelines on the measurement of income related to paid and self-employment in order to promote the development of these statistics along sound lines and improve their international comparability.
Resolution concerning an integrated system of wages statistics
Adopted by the 12th ICLS (1973), this resolution revises, broadens and integrates the prior standards in order to provide guidelines for the production of comprehensive and mutually consistent statistics of wages (including salaries) and the need to co-ordinate these statistics with other economic and social statistics.
Publications
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Global Wage Report 2022-23: The impact of inflation and COVID-19 on wages and purchasing power
This ILO flagship report examines the evolution of real wages, giving a unique picture of wage trends globally and by region.