Working papers

  1. ILO Working paper 89

    What has been driving work-to-work transitions in the emerging world? – A comparative study of Indonesia and South Africa

    23 March 2023

    This paper examines the shape, prominence and drivers of work-to-work transitions in South Africa and Indonesia – two middle-income countries with similar development levels yet different labour market characteristics.

  2. ILO Working paper 88

    The impact of Covid-19 on South African migrant wage workers and the self-employed

    28 February 2023

    When Covid-19 struck the South African government declared some of the strictest lockdowns worldwide. The impact of lockdowns on the working classes was especially severe. Initially many workers were left with no income, leading to warnings that a pandemic of hunger may eclipse the deadliness of the Covid-19 pandemic.

  3. ILO Working paper 87

    Effects of digitalization on the human centricity of social security administration and services

    06 February 2023

  4. ILO Working paper 86

    Negotiations by workers in the informal economy

    04 January 2023

    This paper provides empirical evidence from Africa, Asia and the Americas on negotiations and collective bargaining by workers in the informal economy.

  5. ILO Working paper 85

    Ride-hailing versus traditional taxi services: The experiences of taxi drivers in Lebanon

    05 December 2022

    This paper provides insights into the working conditions of platform-based taxi drivers, and engages critically with the development of taxi platforms in Lebanon and shows its dependence on venture capital funds, the “non‑uberized” economy, the State and the non-market society in Lebanon, which is experiencing a structural transformation of its economy and labour market.

  6. ILO Working paper 84

    Engendering informality statistics: gaps and opportunities

    21 November 2022

    Informality is a dynamic and multidimensional concern that demands gender-sensitive data. In 2018, globally, more than 60% of employment was informal. However, global averages hide that in more countries the share of women in informal employment exceeds that of men. Also, women in the informal economy are often in the most unprotected situations – as domestic workers, home-based workers and contributing family workers – where a lack of visibility can increase their vulnerability.

  7. ILO Working paper 83

    Labour protests during the pandemic : The case of hospital and retail workers in 90 countries

    07 November 2022

    With a novel methodology searching news events from world’s largest news agencies via the online GDELT project, this report documents protest of key workers against their working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic in 90 countries.

  8. ILO Working paper 82

    Long-term care in the context of population ageing: a rights-based approach to universal coverage

    20 October 2022

    With the acceleration of population ageing, the achieving of healthy ageing is becoming a global imperative and social protection policies and social security systems have an important role to play in this endeavour.

  9. ILO Working paper 81

    Key workers in Malaysia during the pandemic

    17 October 2022

    During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Malaysian government prioritized health and economic stimulus packages for the sectors considered “key” for the economy and gave little recognition to the workers making contributions to the functioning of daily lives.

  10. ILO Working paper 80

    Realizing the opportunities of the platform economy through freedom of association and collective bargaining

    30 September 2022

    This study provides empirical evidence from different regions of the world to identify avenues for platform economy workers to access freedom of association and collective bargaining.