Millions of workers remain poor globally — ILO

The International Labour Organisation has disclosed that millions of workers worldwide in both the formal and informal economies continue to earn very low wages compared to the cost of living and live in poverty

It stated this in a release after a meeting of experts on wage policies, in February, which was endorsed by the ILO’s Governing Body at its session on March 13, 2024

ILO stressed that those workers and their families were unable to afford healthy food, decent housing, medical care, or schooling for their children

It declared that it had reached an agreement on the estimation and operationalisation of living wages.

Experts define the concept of a living wage as “the wage level that is necessary to afford a decent standard of living for workers and their families, taking into account the country’s circumstances and calculated for the work performed during the normal hours of work”

“The agreement says that the estimation of living wages should follow several principles, including the use of evidence-based methodologies and robust data, consultations with workers’ and employers’ organisations, transparency, public availability, and the consideration of regional and local contexts and socio-economic and cultural realities,” ILO stated.