Goal 8. Promote Sustained, Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth, Full and Productive Employment and Decent Work for All

Potential and Illustrative Core Indicators:

Indicator 59: GNI per capita (PPP, current US$ Atlas method) Rationale and definition: Gross national income measures the total earnings of the residents of an economy adjusted for the cost of living in each country (purchasing power parity, PPP). These earnings are defined as the sum of value added by all resident producers, plus any product taxes (less subsidies) not included in the valuation of output, plus net receipts of primary income (compensation of employees and property income) from abroad. The International Comparison Program (ICP) can be used to compute purchasing power parity (PPP) adjustments. The Atlas method is a World Bank method of computing exchange rates to reduce the impact of market fluctuations in the cross-country comparison of national incomes.

Disaggregation: Spatially (rural/urban, province/district).

Comments and limitations: As underscored in this report, GNI and GDP are important indicators, but they measure only part of the economic dimension of sustainable development. Both economic measures do not adequately capture people’s material conditions.123

We therefore recommend that they be complemented by other “beyond GDP” indicators (See also Table 2 in the report). For example, The System of Environmental-Economic Accounting 2012 Central Framework will help support a wider set of indicators related to sustainable development and green growth, which aims at fostering economic growth while ensuring that natural resources continue to provide the resources and environmental services on which wellbeing relies. The environmental-economic framework makes it possible to create indicators linking poverty reduction and natural resource management. Interdependencies related to food security and nutrition should also be considered. These issues are central to pro-poor growth and social protection policies in developing countries.

Preliminary assessment of current data availability by Friends of the Chair: A

Potential lead agency or agencies: The UN Statistics Division, the World Bank and the IMF compile GNI data.

Indicator 60: Country implements and reports on System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) accounts

Rationale and definition: The UN Statistical Commission adopted the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) in 2012 as the first international standard for environmental-economic accounting. The SEEA brings statistics on the environment and its relationship to the economy into the core of official statistics and thereby expands the traditional System of National Accounts (SNA), which focuses on measuring economic performance. Examples of information provided by the SEEA includes the assessment of trends in the use and availability of natural resources, the extent of emissions and discharges to the environment resulting from economic activity, and the amount of economic activity undertaken for environmental purposes.124 The UN Statistical Commission will develop the reporting templates for the SEEA Central Framework.

123 As noted by the UN Statistics Division, (2014), paragraph 13.8.

124 European Commission, Food and Agriculture Organization, International Monetary Fund, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, United Nations, World Bank, (2012), System of Environmental-Economic Accounting, Central Framework, New York.

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This indicator measures whether a country applies and reports on a national SEEA. It takes into account the fact that some elements of the SEEA may not be applicable to a particular country and that the implementation is incremental starting from selected accounts depending on policy priorities.

Disaggregation: The presence of SEEAs is a national indicator, but SEEAs themselves are highly disaggregated (by sector of activity, environmental resource, sub-national unit, etc.).

Comments and limitations: A challenge with this indicator derives from the need to establish an institutional framework for compiling integrated data, and the statistical production process and information management in the countries’ statistical systems.

Preliminary assessment of current data availability by Friends of the Chair: To be determined.

Potential lead agency or agencies: The UN Statistics Division.

Indicator 61: Youth employment rate, by formal and informal sector

Rationale and definition: The youth employment rate is the percentage of the youth labor force that is employed. Young people are defined as persons aged between 15 and 24. The labor force comprises all persons within the above age group currently available for work and actively seeking work, and the sum of those that are employed and unemployed.

To the extent possible, the youth employment rate should be reported separately for formal and informal employment. The latter is of particular importance in developing countries. The 17th International Conference of Labor Statisticians recommends that informal employment should include: (i) own-account workers (self-employed with no employees) in their own informal sector enterprises, (ii) employers (selfemployed with employees) in their own informal sector enterprises, (iii) contributing family workers, irrespective of type of enterprise, (iv) members of informal producers’ cooperatives (not established as legal entities, (v) employees holding informal jobs as defined according to the employment relationship (in law or in practice, jobs not subject to national labor legislation, income taxation, social protection or entitlement to certain employment benefits (paid annual or sick leave, etc.)), and (vi) own-account workers engaged in production of goods exclusively for final use by their household.125

Disaggregation: We recommend that the indicator be disaggregated by gender to understand the differential composition of men and women in the formal and informal sectors.

Comments and limitations: A broad-based employment metric for formal and informal youth employment is preferable to standard unemployment measures that focus only on the formal sector. However, informal employment is not systematically measured in all countries, though many are beginning the process of defining and measuring informal employment. As a result data quality and availability may be poor.

Preliminary assessment of current data availability by Friends of the Chair: To be determined.

Potential lead agency or agencies: ILO tracks data on this indicator.

125 ILO, (2009), ILO school-to-work transition survey: A methodological guide, Geneva: ILO. See: http://www.ilo.org/global/research/global-reports/global-employment-trends/youth/2013/WCMS_212423/lang--en/index.htm,

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Indicator 62: [Index of decent work] - Indicator to be developed

Rationale and definition: We propose that an indicator be considered to track countries’ compliance with the decent work agenda adopted by member states of the ILO.126 Decent work, as defined by the ILO, includes access to full and productive employment with rights at work, social protection and the promotion of social dialogue, with gender equality as a crosscutting issue. Currently, such a single index does not exist, but it could be created (potentially as a composite indicator).

The ILO is currently developing statistical indicators covering ten component categories of decent work that could serve as a basis for such an indicator.127 Similarly, the OECD is developing a conceptual and operational framework for measuring job quality. This work integrates that of the UNECE Taskforce on quality of employment, whose members include both the OECD and ILO.

Better labor statistics can also be gleaned from socio-demographic statistics of the System of National Accounts and System of Environmental Economic Accounting. According to the UN Statistics Division, “these Systems should be used to generate a consistent set of economic and employment statistics that become vital with the adoption of labor market policies that are integrated and benchmarked with other policy objectives for the real, fiscal and monetary sector. With the emerging country practices in the implementation of SEEA, also the concept of ‘green jobs’ could be clarified.”128

Disaggregation: Opportunities for disaggregation to be reviewed once the indicator has been developed.

Comments and limitations: Adequate indicators for decent work are still being developed. In the interim, an appropriate proxy may be ‘the proportion of employed people living below an international poverty line’ (MDG Indicator 1.6).

Preliminary assessment of current data availability by Friends of the Chair: A

Potential lead agency or agencies: ILO.

Indicator 63: Ratification and implementation of fundamental ILO labor standards and compliance in law and practice

Rationale and Definition: The ILO conventions describe key labor standards aimed at promoting opportunities for decent and productive work, where men and women can work in conditions of equity, non-discrimination, security, freedom and dignity. The proposed indicator tracks countries’ ratification of and compliance with the 8 fundamental ILO conventions, which cover the following issues: freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labor; the minimum age for labor and the immediate elimination of the worst forms of child labor; and the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation, including equal remuneration.129

Countries are required to report on ratified conventions every two years. The reporting system is backed up by a supervisory system that helps to ensure implementation. The ILO regularly reviews the application of standards in member states and makes recommendations.

Disaggregation: By country and by convention.

126 See ILO, (2012b). 127 See UN Statistics Division, (2014), paragraph 7.6.

128 Ibid, paragraph 7.7.

129 See ILO webpage on Conventions and Recommendations: http://ilo.org/global/standards/introduction-to-international-labourstandards/conventions-and-recommendations/lang--en/index.htm

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Comments and limitations: The exact method for measurement of this indicator needs to be developed.

Preliminary assessment of current data availability by Friends of the Chair: A

Potential lead agency or agencies: ILO.

Additional indicators that countries may consider:

• Employment to population ratio (MDG Indicator) by sex and age group (15–64): This indicator complements the various measures of unemployment since it tracks the overall share of the population that is employed.

• Share of informal employment in total employment: this indicator covers the total number of people who have an informal employment situation, that is, workers whose employment relationships are not subject to labor legislation, income taxation, social protection or other employment benefits in law or in practice.130

• Percentage of young people not in education, employment, or training (NEET). This indicator tracks the share of youth who are neither in formal employment nor in full-time education or training. It is a measure of the percentage of youth who are either unemployed, work in the informal sector, or have other forms of precarious jobs.

• Percentage of own-account and contributing family workers in total employment: This indicator tracks the share of the working population who are employed as family workers or who work on their own account. This metric is particularly important in countries with a large informal labor market.

• Working poverty rate measured at $2 PPP per capita per day: This indicator measures the share of the working population who earn less than $2 PPP per day.

• Household income, including in-kind services (PPP, current US$ Atlas method): This indicator is derived from the system of national accounts (SNA).

• Growth rate of GDP per person employed (MDG Indicator), which is a key measure of labor productivity.

130 See ILO Resource Guide on the Informal Economy, online at: www.ilo.int/public/english/support/lib/resource/subject/informal.htm

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