The vastness of global poverty is almost unfathomable–but, it’s gotten a bit better, according to the good people at the International Labour Organization, which just published its 2014 World of Work Report that focuses on “Developing With Jobs”. Even more astounding is the scale of the number of people who are in what is called “vulnerable employment”, which is a fancy way of saying you just can’t make ends meet.

To start, check this out:

In 1994, 39 per cent of the developing world’s workers were living with their families in extreme poverty (on less than US$1.25 in consumption per household member per day). By 2004, this figure had fallen to around 25 per cent and, by 2014, it is estimated to have fallen to 13 per cent. As a result, there are 417 million fewer workers living in extreme poverty now than there were two decades ago.

That’s a big reduction in people living in extreme poverty. First question I’d ask: is that due to people moving into jobs that are paying enough to move people out of *extreme poverty* yet are lacking in safe working conditions and inadequate benefits.

Some of the answer to the above comes later in the report in the section looking at the kind of social protections workers enjoy. In one group:

Very limited or limited rights – low resources – low coverage (54 countries)
●● In this group, statutory commitments are limited and tend to be restricted to small groups of the population (usually those in formal employment). The low level of resources invested in social protection means there is also a significant coverage gap (both in extent and level).
●● About 40 per cent of developing countries (28 per cent of the population) belong to this group. Close to 90 per cent of LDCs are in this first group, mainly from Africa (72 per cent of African countries) and Asia (40 per cent of Asian countries). In those countries, the majority of the population live in rural areas (55 per cent) and 60 per cent live from agriculture. The sector makes a comparatively limited contribution to GDP (22 per cent). Close to 64 per cent of the population live below the poverty line, and a similar proportion are working poor and/or are in vulnerable employment (62 per cent).
●● The share of employment in industry is limited at 10 per cent (with a contribution to value added of 27 per cent; 11 per cent from the manufacturing sector). Investment level is the lowest of the five groups, at 23.7 per cent, compared with close to 30 per cent of GDP in group 5 (representative of the higher stage of development of social protection systems).
●● Total government expenditure as a percentage of GDP is limited (30 per cent on average),

So, that’s the other side to understand: life is still very, very hard for a huge number of people even when they rise out of is defined as “extreme poverty”.

I’ll have some more on this report.