Nepal has 20-35 percent working poverty: Report

Published On: January 17, 2017 01:20 AM NPT By: Republica  | @RepublicaNepal


The report states that Nepal has unemployment rate of 4 percent. This is equal to the United States and less than the UK and Germany.

KATHMANDU, Jan 17: Nepal has 20 to 35 percent working poverty, according to an international report.

World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2017 (WESO), which was published by International Labor Organization (ILO) on Friday, said that 20 to 35 percent of the country's workforce is living on less than $3.10 per day.

The outlook has also highlighted that Nepal has 55 percent to 70 percent vulnerable employment. "The percentage of own-account workers and contributing family workers as a share of total employment is more than half," the report added.

However, the report states that Nepal has unemployment rate of 4 percent. This is equal to the United States and less than the UK and Germany.

According to ILO, persons in employment comprise all persons above a specified age who during a specified brief period, either one week or one day, were in the following categories, paid employment or self employment. 

The report also highlighted that the global unemployment rate is expected to rise modestly from 5.7 percent to 5.8 percent in 2017, representing an increase of 3.4 million in the number of jobless people.

The number of unemployed persons globally in 2017 is forecast to stand at just over 201 million - with an additional rise of 2.7 million expected in 2018 - as the labor force growth outpaces growth in job creation, according to the report.

 The ILO's World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2017 takes stock of the current global labor market situation, assessing the most recent employment developments and forecasting unemployment levels in developed, emerging and developing countries.

It also focuses on trends in job quality, paying particular attention to working poverty and vulnerable employment.

"We are facing the twin challenge of repairing the damage caused by the global economic and social crisis and creating quality jobs for the tens of millions of new labor market entrants every year,” ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said in the report.

“Economic growth continues to disappoint and underperform, both in terms of levels and the degree of inclusion," he said, adding that it paints a worrisome picture for the global economy and its ability to generate enough jobs. "Let alone quality jobs. Persistent high levels of vulnerable forms of employment combined with clear lack of progress in job quality - even in countries where aggregate figures are improving - are alarming. We need to ensure that the gains of growth are shared in an inclusive manner."

The report shows that vulnerable forms of employment -- i.e. contributing family workers and own account workers -- are expected to stay above 42 percent of total employment, accounting for 1.4 billion people worldwide in 2017. 

“In fact, almost one in two workers in emerging countries are in vulnerable forms of employment, rising to more than four in five workers in developing countries,” Steven Tobin, ILO Senior Economist and lead author of the report, said.

As a result, the number of workers in vulnerable employment is projected to grow by 11 million per year, with Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa being the most affected.


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