ILO: Fewer people moving out of working poverty -ILO

Ryder, who stated this in a press statement decried rising global corporate profits while unemployment and household incomes stand still.While maintaining that reducing inequality will boost economic growth, he lamented that in developing countries, informal employment remains widespread, and the pace of improvements in job quality is slowing down. “That means fewer people are moving out […]

Ryder, who stated this in a press statement decried rising global corporate profits while unemployment and household incomes stand still.
While maintaining that reducing inequality will boost economic growth, he lamented that in developing countries, informal employment remains widespread, and the pace of improvements in job quality is slowing down.
 “That means fewer people are moving out of working poverty. In most countries, workers have been getting a smaller share of national income and of gains in productivity, while more of the income is going into profit, and we have a major problem. Inequality is reflected in the depressed incomes of most households and therefore constrains consumption growth, which in turn reduces economic growth. It also causes public frustration, raising the risk of instability – the current unrest in many countries is fuelled by perceptions of unfairness,” he said.
According to him, boosting demand for goods and services would go a long way towards creating the incentive required for companies to expand and create jobs, stressing that it entails moving away from aggressive fiscal consolidation pursued in many countries.
 “We need to focus on the productive economy, and make a firm commitment to investing in people, skills and jobs, and reducing economic disparity. If we fail to act, if we fail to tackle the youth jobs crisis, long-term unemployment, high drop-out rates and other pressing labour market issues, we will be destroying hopes for sustainable growth – and sowing the seeds of further, and perhaps deeper social unrest,” he said.