The success of employment policies is generally measured by the rate of employment, and this leads to a focus on growth-enhancing measures in the hope that economic growth will lead to jobs creation. This policy proposes indicators that could more accurately capture workers’ wellbeing and the quality of employment, however. In addition to unemployment, such indicators would track inequality, poverty rates, job security, access to free time, and “welfare purchasing power” — the extent to which disposable income provides access to food, housing, health care, energy, and education.
Implementation requires national statistical offices to adopt and publish these measures, international coordination to harmonise definitions, and mandatory use of these indicators in evaluating employment policies and reforms.
The goal is to ensure that labour market success is judged by the lived experiences of workers, not abstract growth metrics, and to provide policymakers with more accurate tools for poverty eradication.
This policy is desirable because it reorients labour measurement toward rights and wellbeing, strengthens the case for social reforms, and prevents the dismissal of inclusive policies simply because of their effect on GDP.
