The State of Social Justice 2025

Read the press release: Global progress on social justice slowed by persistent inequalities

This ILO flagship report positions social justice not as a luxury but as a foundational pillar for peace, stability, cohesion, and sustainable development, grounded in the universal recognition of human and labour rights as essential to dignity and fairness.

It emphasizes that justice does not flow automatically from economic growth but must be actively pursued through political will, institutional reform, and inclusive governance, with policy choices shaping whether transitions lead to opportunity or exclusion.

Drawing on interviews from 17 countries, it reveals a widespread crisis of institutional trust: despite strong legal frameworks, many workers report exclusion, mistreatment, and neglect, underscoring the gap between formal protections and lived realities of justice.

Progress made

The last three decades have seen substantial achievements that demonstrate the possibility of coordinated international progress. These gains underscore the potential of well-designed, collective policy action to advance global well-being and reduce inequalities.

Less child labour and more school completion

Child labour has fallen from 20.6% in 1995 to 7.8% in 2024. Secondary school completion rates have increased by 22 percentage points since 2000.

Drop in extreme poverty and working poverty rates

Extreme poverty dropped from 4 in 10 people in 1995 to 1 in 10 in 2023, while working poverty dropped from 27.9% in 2000 to 6.9% in 2024.

Higher labour productivity per worker

Labour productivity per worker rose by 78% globally, and by 215% in upper-middle-income countries. Between-country labour productivity inequality also decreased by 40%.

Remaining challenges

Despite positive trends, some challenges have proven persistent and resistant to progress.

Far from eradicating poverty

800 million people still live on less than US$3 per day, and one in four people lacks access to safely managed drinking water.

Stark inequalities

The top 1% of the global population holds 20% of income and 38% of wealth.

Persistent gender gap in labour force and high informality rates

The labour force participation gap between men and women has narrowed by only three percentage points since 1995. The informality rate declined by just two percentage points since 2005, with 58% of workers still in informal employment.

Collective bargaining rights are deteriorating

Scores on compliance with freedom of association and collective bargaining rights show deterioration, with continuing denial of these rights to particular groups of workers.

Recommendations for fair transitions

The world faces at least three major societal transitions that must be managed justly, even as inequalities persist. The report highlights that climate, technological, and demographic transitions will shape the future of work and justice, and that managing them fairly is essential. These transitions interact with existing inequalities, and ensuring fairness in how their impacts are distributed is central to the report’s agenda.

Harnessing the overlapping transitions to take advantage of their opportunities while mitigating their risks will require a combination of three efforts.

Apply existing labour institutions to the changes at hand.
Adapt labour institutions to the specific challenges of each transition.
Amplify labour institutions to break down the different policy domain silos, so that all relevant issues, including labour, are discussed when crafting policy for societal transitions.