# Terms of Reference

- attention to root causes of inequalities of work
    - drivers and determinants across all dimensions
- addressing both distribution and redistribution
    - seen as the most innovative one (?)
- fundamental principles and rights in intl labor standards
- social dialogue and tripartism
- interconnectedness, integration and monitoring
- country-specific approaches

the assignment will:
- explain what inequalities in the world of work are
- why they should be addressed
- what is added value of ILO doing so

with target groups:
- ILO staff & constitutents
- external stakeholders & partners

objectives:
- general: support position of ILO as key actor in ongoing debates and initiatives of multilateral system on poverty and inequalities
- 1: improve understanding of what inequalities in the world of work are
    - root causes
    - their linkages
    - how they feed into outcomes
- 2: identify evidence-based policy responses to prevent and reduce inequalities in the world of work
    - minimizing of inequalities
    - reducing the outcomes of inequalities

dates:
- Sep 30: 
    - draft detailed outline for conceptual framework
    - chapter indication
    - definition of inequalities in world of work, drivers and determinants
- Oct 30:
    - annotated bibliography identifying effective and evidence-based policy responses to adress inequality in world of work
    - annotated bibl will inform dev of conceptual framework
    - presentation to task force to gather inputs and views from diff departments

## Working Strategy

### Identifying root causes of LM inequalities

- a fundamental typology of inequalities within the LM *and* beyond the labor market is necessary
    - as ILO recognizes inequalities generate feedback cycles
        - within a life cycle and inter-generationally (through inequalities of outcomes)
    - to understand inequalities in the world of work, those beyond should not be a black box
        - gender/socio-demographic/pre-existing inequalities
        - put very simply: 
            - it might make sense for a mother to move away from a job to a space with better educational access for her child and the resulting issue should concern *both*
                - access to better education in the original region
                - the impact of better job availability or active labour market policies in the new region
- for each form of work to understand the primary inequalities in the LM
    - we need to understand how pre-existing inequalities feed into them as independent variables
    - often this will take the form of e.g. socio-demographic inequalities reflecting income inequalities
    - but not always, and that is the locating of the root causes I would see as primary goal for the first part of the review

### Identifying evidence-based policy responses which address these inequalities

- if we manage to break open the black box of root causes in this way
    - for vertical but especially for horizontal inequalities
- it should make it easier to analyze the impacts of policies removing inequalities for
    - the causes they help reduce the effect of
    - the impact on labour market inequalities itself
    - and the effects on resulting equality/inequalities of opportunity 

# Conceptual definitions

labour

'nature of work'

work

worlds of work

inequality in work

## forms of work

paid employment work
own-use production work
unpaid work
care work 
volunteer work
unpaid trainee work

## labor market outcomes

employment
unemployment
underemployment
labour force participation
self-employment/informality
labour productivity
skills
wages/earnings
hours worked
job security
social protection coverage
labour mobility

## socio-demographic categories

gender
ethnicity
race
age
disability

## types of inequalities (in worlds of work)

general characteristics of inequality:

- 'pre-world of work' inequalities; starting well before individuals enter world of work
    - unequal opportunities to healthcare, literacy, quality education
    - often borne from poverty, gender, family background, lack of legal status/identity
    - others often born with many advantages that give easy opportunistic access to build human capital
- inequality of opportunities !== inequality of outcome
    - often, today's inequalities affect future (generations') opportunities
    - high levels of current inequality = reduction in future social mobility
    - conversely, (some?) focus should be put on equality of outcome today to ensure equality of opportunity tomorrow
- while focusing on these intra-country horizontal inequalities, inter-country inequalities (esp income inequality, but predisposing other as well) should not be neglected
- distinction between:
    - vertical inequality
        - between all households in a country
    - horizontal inequality
        - betweek different groups
        - disparities in employment outcomes, labour rights, opportunities between groups depending on gender, age, nationality, ethnicity, health status, disability or other characteristics

forms of inequality:

- access to essential services (health, education, housing)
- income inequality
- access to means of subsistence (esp related to employment)
- gender inequality (part of horizontal, being one of the 'greatest forms of inequality today')
    - results in gender-based violence, harassment, domestic violence, unpaid care work
    - especially girls often facing unequal opportunities and 'persistent gender stereotypes in their access to education and health services and in other aspects of life' [13, ILC]
    - in most regions wome over-represented among poorest and under-represented among richest people (esp in SoutAs;EastAs;Pacific regions)
        - born primarily from unequal access to quality education, inequalities and injustices in labour market participation, gender earnings gaps
        - often also results in children being exposed to severe health and food deprivation and differences in control over assets (capital/land)
        - recently exacerbated by COVID-19 reversing equality progress through increased women's/men's paid/unpaid/care work inequalities 
- girls/boys from ethnic minorities, indigenous, tribal populations, remote rural areas often facing barriers accessing quality education & essential services
    - indigenous people account for 6% of world pop but 19% of extreme poor
    - stark contrast between migrant workers' high labour force participation rates and large proportion of low-income households
- spatial inequalities (rural/urban; small/large cities; richt/poor regions)
    - contributes to overall more fractures/unequal societies
- intersectional inequalities (made possible to highlight by vert/horiz inequality split)
- unequal distribution of work & labour income
    - among workforce among most important determinants of inequality
    - unemployment: forecloses income prospects; highest rate in young people
    - underemployment:
        - low wages make meeting basic needs impossible (esp. food, healthcare, education, decent housing)
        - including differentiation time-related underemployment (would like to work more paid hours); potential labour force (would like to work but not actively searching or not available for work); creates (way) higher numbers than purely unemployment numbers - especially in LIC
    - recently, (COVID-19) women, young people, less educated, low earners less likely to keep their jobs

## types of policies

- income:
    - difference between primary distribution ('market income', through property and employment) and secondary distribution ('disposable income', through taxes and transfers), and tertiary distribution (public services)
    - tax and transfers redistributing incomes towards greater equality in disposable income
        - extent of redistribution limited by small fiscal resources (e.g. through informal labour predominance)
    - policies to reduce income difference between urban/rural, ethnic minorities/majority one of main drivers of reduced income inequality (LAC region)

# Summary draft

- pre-world of work characteristics already taking huge influence on labour market and related equality of outcomes
    - inequality in access to essential services (health, education, housing)
    - inequality in access to means of subsistence (esp related to employment)
- income inequality huge driver of resulting inequalities, in turn already influenced by characteristics, additionally:
    - spatial inequality
    - gender inequality
    - employment inequality:
        - unemployment: forecloses income prospects; highest rate in young people
        - underemployment: low wages make meeting basic needs impossible (esp. food, healthcare, education, decent housing)
            - split into time-related underemployment and potential labour force
