Economic Class and Labour Market Inclusion: Poor and Middle Class Workers in Developing Asia and the Pacific

Using an absolute definition of poverty and the middle class, this paper presents trends and estimates of the poor, near poor and middle class working population in developing Asia and the Pacific. It finds that since 1991 working poverty has fallen remarkably while middle class jobs now account for nearly two-fifths of all employment in the region (671 million middle class workers). However, a sizeable share of workers (around 28 per cent or 497 million) still live just above the poverty line and remain highly vulnerable to falling into poverty. The paper also applies a class-based framework for assessing inequality in the labour market, with a special focus on Cambodia, India, Indonesia and Viet Nam. It provides empirical evidence that economic participation is inversely related to affluence, while educational attainment and access to better quality jobs both increase with higher economic class status. In addition, it presents sex- and age-disaggregated analysis to highlight particular gaps for poor women and youth and the measures that can help strengthen their position in the labour market

Impacts of Current Global Economic Crisis on Asia's Labor Market

The paper investigates the labor market and social impacts of the global financial and economic crisis in Asia and the Pacific as well as national policy responses to the crisis. It draws on recent macroeconomic, trade, production, investment, and remittances data to assess the employment and social consequences of the crisis, including falling demand for labor, rising vulnerable and informal employment, and falling incomes and their related pressures on the working poor. The paper provides some projections of the impact on unemployment, vulnerable employment, working poverty, and labor productivity in the region in 2009. It demonstrates that labor market recovery is likely to lag behind output growth, based on the experience of Asian labor markets following the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The paper underscores some policy options that are likely to have positive outcomes toward generating employment and boosting aggregate demand, improving social protection and welfare on the basis of decent work principles, and promoting a sound and sustainable economic and labor market recovery.asian labor market; labor policies; global financial crisis

Impacts of Current Global Economic Crisis on Asia’s Labor Market

The paper investigates the labor market and social impacts of the global financial and economic crisis in Asia and the Pacific as well as national policy responses to the crisis. It draws on recent macroeconomic, trade, production, investment, and remittances data to assess the employment and social consequences of the crisis, including falling demand for labor, rising vulnerable and informal employment, and falling incomes and their related pressures on the working poor. The paper provides some projections of the impact on unemployment, vulnerable employment, working poverty, and labor productivity in the region in 2009. It demonstrates that labor market recovery is likely to lag behind output growth, based on the experience of Asian labor markets following the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The paper underscores some policy options that are likely to have positive outcomes toward generating employment and boosting aggregate demand, improving social protection and welfare on the basis of decent work principles, and promoting a sound and sustainable economic and labor market recovery.labor market, financial crisis, unemployment, working poverty, Labour Productivity