ILO Working paper 29

Public Employment Programmes in the Care Economy - The Case of South Africa

29 April 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic crisis have increased unemployment levels in the care economy, detrimental effects of which are felt by care workers, the majority of whom are women. The South African experience shows that Public Employment Programmes (PEPs) have contributed to the progressive realisation of decent work where as a first step in the trajectory, they have recognised and renumerated care related labour as work. This case study raises a series of questions for further consideration about the role of PEPs in this context, particularly their efficacy in the provision of direct care services.

ILO Working paper 28

Social Protection in the Cultural and Creative Sector - Country Practices and Innovations

20 April 2021

ILO Working paper 27

Platform work and the employment relationship

31 March 2021

This working paper analyses national and supranational case law and legislation about the employment status of platform workers. It does so by referring to the ILO Employment Relationship Recommendation, 2006 (No. 198). It finds that this Recommendation provides for a valuable compass to navigate the issues that emerge from the analysis of the existing case law and legislation about platform work.

ILO Working Paper 26

Hurricanes and their implications for unemployment: Evidence from the Caribbean

09 March 2021

Although extreme climate events pose significant challenges to labour markets, there is a paucity of empirical literature studying their impacts. The aim of the study is to investigate the impact of hurricane strikes on unemployment across a sample of Caribbean countries. In breaking down the unemployment data, our findings demonstrate that there is very little difference in the impact for adult males and females as well as male youth, however female youth may be slightly more disadvantaged. Finally, labour legislation appears to provide some mitigating impact from hurricane strikes.

ILO Working paper 25

Homeworking in the Philippines: Bad job ? Good job ?

09 March 2021

This report focuses on two categories of homeworkers in the Philippines: industrial homeworkers, who assemble or fabricate goods for factories, retailers or their agents under subcontracting arrangements; and online workers, who render services to their clients or employers via telecommunications technologies and digital platforms.

ILO Working paper 24

Online digital labour platforms in China: Working conditions, policy issues and prospects

02 February 2021

This paper summarizes the results of an ILO survey, conducted in 2019, of workers’ characteristics and working conditions on three major digital labour platforms in China.

ILO Working Paper 23

China's move to measuring relative poverty: implications for social protection

01 February 2021

ILO Working paper 22

Home-based work and homework in Ghana: An exploration

22 January 2021

This research report explores the nature and character of home-based work and the more narrow concept of homework in Ghana.

ILO Working paper 21

Home bounded - Global outreach: Home-based workers in Turkey

18 December 2020

This report focuses on industrial home-based pieceworkers and IT-enabled remote workers, who are commonly referred to in Turkey as “freelancers”.

ILO Working Paper 20

COVID-19, jobs and the future of work in the LDCs: A (disheartening) preliminary account

15 December 2020

This paper provides an overview of the evolution of the COVID-19-induced health and labour market crises in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), drawing on a large set of available data and sources. It highlights how the outbreak is affecting jobs and incomes via multiple channels of transmission. It looks at policy responses so far and provides some suggestions for national employment and economic policies, as well as international support to help LDCs on their path to a job-rich recovery and future resilience.