Transcript Slide 1

Advancing Social Justice “At Home”:
Can We Shape Social Policies that
Make the Dynamics of the Current
Globalization Socially and Politically
Sustainable?
Policy Network, Brussels
Jody Heymann M.D., Ph.D.
5 December, 2007
Making Globalization Work: Meeting
the Opportunities and Threats
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Economic opportunities for all nations
Risks at a national level
Opportunities for individuals as consumers and
in daily life
Opportunities for workers in expanding
economies
Risks for workers as industries in specific nations
contract
Social and Political Sustainability will
Require Simultaneously:
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Addressing the impact of globalization on the
availability and quality of work in high income
countries
Improving the opportunities globalization
provides to the poorest workers in all
countries—low, middle, and high income
Ensuring that amidst the economic
transformation, solutions are found that support
the healthy development of the next generation
To Achieve This Requires:
Recognizing simultaneous major sociodemographic transformation:
1. Labor force
2. Urbanization
3. Globalization
Women’s Economic Activity 1970
1970
0 - 19.9 percent
20 - 39.9 percent
40 - 49.9 percent
50 - 100 percent
No data
Women’s Economic Activity 1990
1990
0 - 19.9 percent
20 - 39.9 percent
40 - 49.9 percent
50 - 100 percent
No data
Women’s Economic Activity 2010
2010 (ILO projection)
0 - 19.9 percent
20 - 39.9 percent
40 - 49.9 percent
50 - 100 percent
No data
Urbanization 1970
1970
0 - 24.9 percent
25 - 49.9 percent
50 - 74.9 percent
75 - 100 percent
No data
Urbanization 1990
1990
0 - 24.9 percent
25 - 49.9 percent
50 - 74.9 percent
75 - 100 percent
No data
Urbanization 2006
2006
0 - 24.9 percent
25 - 49.9 percent
50 - 74.9 percent
75 - 100 percent
No data
Examples of Opportunities and Risks
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Labor Transformation:
Opportunity: increased gender equality, opportunity to
escape poverty.
Risk: parental constraints in the availability for caregiving.
Urbanization:
Opportunity: economic growth and new work possibilities.
Risk: separation from extended families and other traditional
supports.
Globalization:
Opportunity: national policymakers and international
organizations could set standards for decent working
conditions.
Risk: pressure on workers to accept low wages and
inadequate working conditions.
Research Program Components
• Mapping Global Trends: over 170 countries.
• In-depth Ethnographic Studies: more than 1,000 in-depth
interviews in 6 countries in 5 regions.
• Statistical Analysis of National Household Surveys: 55,000
households from 7 countries on 5 continents.
• Systematic Review of Legal and Policy Framework:
examination of policies in 180 nations.
• Case Studies: comprehensive studies of companies in
North America, Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia, and
Australia.
Current Challenges Include:
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Well recognized changes in job security, wages,
and bargaining position of labor.
New challenges due to simultaneous
transformation that are profoundly affecting:
 economic outcomes of families
 healthy development of the next generation
 long term prospects
Percentage of Families with At Least One Child
Not Enrolled in School
45
42
Low-income families
with a 0-5 year old child
40
37
Low-income families
without a 0-5 year old
child
35
30
26
25
22
20
22
18
15
15
13
12
10
15
14
8
5
0
Single working
parent families
Dual earner
families
Brazil
Extended family
households with
all resident
adults working
Single working
parent families
Dual earner
families
Extended family
households with
all resident
Mexico adults working
When Low-Income Single Parents Have Young Children Needing Care, School-Age
Children’s Enrollment Is at Highest Risk
Source: Data from national household surveys. Analyses in the above figure are based on households with a 6 -14 year old child.
Childcare Policies Can Make a Significant
Difference:
48
Percentage Of Families Who…
50
Had to leave child
home alone or in the
care of an unpaid
child
45
40
Relied on paid child
for child care
Seguro Social provides
childcare for workers in the
private formal sector
35
30
27
Public policies provide formal
childcare
25
19
20
15
9
10
4
3
5
0
Mexico
Botswana
Vietnam
Frequency Children Are Left Alone or in the “Care” of Other Children
Source: Data from Project on Global Working Families in-depth interviews with working caregivers. Analysis is based on
households with a 0-5 year old.
Percentage of Parents Who Had to Leave Child
Home Alone Sick
45
40
Benefit available
40
Benefit not available
35
30
27
25
19
20
19
18
15
15
10
10
5
4
0
Can alter work schedule in Able to get any leave from Been able to get paid leave Can alter work schedule
order to meet caregiving
work for caregiving
from work for caregiving and able to get paid leave
responsibilities
for caregiving
When Parents Have Decent Working Conditions, They Are Less Likely to Have to
Leave Children Home Alone Sick
Source: Data from Project on Global Working Families in-depth interviews with working caregivers. Analyses in the above
figure are based on households with a 0-14 year old child.
Moving as Individual NationsWhat Can be Done?
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Examined policy data on 180 countries
Looked at regional leaders on economic
competitiveness and unemployment
Looked at regional leaders in human development
indicators
Case studies on countries that had both
characteristics
Moving as a Global CommunityWhat Can be Done
Addressing Inequalities in Short
and Intermediate Terms
Higher Income Countries
Lower Income Countries
 Conditions at work for
 More jobs with wages and
individuals and families that
benefits above current base
help prevent job loss
 Conditions at work for
 Supports, including
individuals and families that
childcare, that help avoid
help prevent job loss
job loss
 Supports, including childcare,
 Educational opportunities
that help avoid job loss
 Educational opportunities
Addressing Inequalities in Long
Term
Higher Income Countries
 Having highly educated,
high productivity
workforce
 Not having to compete
with labor costs that leave
workers in poverty
Lower Income Countries
 Having highly educated,
high productivity
workforce that can get
higher wage jobs
 Having infrastructure
developed
Work, Family, and Equity Index
Research Background
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The Work, Family, and Equity Index is the first
venture to systematically define and measure
successful public policies for working families in 180
countries. The evidence-based study uses extensive
data from independent research, government sources,
academic institutions, professional organizations, and
a wide range of international bodies including the
UN, OECD, the World Bank, and the ILO.
The Work, Family, and Equity Index is part of the
Project on Global Working Families, the first
program devoted to understanding and improving
the relationship between working conditions around
the world and family health and well-being.
Strong Consensus in International
Conventions
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Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “everyone who works has
the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself
and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and
supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection”
and “everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable
limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay”.
CEDAW (accepted by 177 countries): all signatories are required
“a) to prohibit, subject to the imposition of sanctions, dismissal on
the grounds of pregnancy or of maternity leave and discrimination
in dismissals on the basis of marital status; b) to introduce
maternity leave with pay or with comparable social benefits without
loss of employment, seniority, or social imbalances.”
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (signed by 192
countries): “State parties shall render appropriate assistance to
parents and legal guardians in the performance of their childrearing responsibilities and shall ensure the development of
institutions, facilities, and services for the care of children.”
National Laws
Significant consensus in setting in place national laws
guaranteeing basic labor standards:
 At least 143 countries guarantee paid annual leave
 At least 129 countries provide mandatory day of rest per week
 At least 159 countries provide paid sick leave
 172 countries guarantee paid maternal leave
 At least 109 countries protect women’s right to breastfeed at
work
At an earlier stage:
 69 countries guaranteed paid paternity leave
 34 countries provided paid parental leave
 A few affluent countries, such as the U.S., lag behind in almost
all these measures
Options in Equilibria:
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All countries raising standards
Competition based on work minima
Investment in healthy development and
education that raises base wage globally
Continuing very low wage, low skill
competition
What Do We Need to Achieve
Higher Equilibria?
Implementation of international labor conventions has had
mixed results.
We need to work on consequences and accountability:
 Incentives: link economic benefits such as increased
access to markets to compliance with international labor
standards
 Sanctions: link labor standards to trade agreements
without increasing protectionism; one possible approach
is through regional agreements
 Report Cards: have outside bodies report on countries’
compliance with international labor conventions to their
national constituencies
What Do We Need to Address in
Education?
Commitment to Early Childhood Care and Education and
school-age children’s chances:
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Investing in education is particularly important for
children living in poverty
Investments in ECCE have long-term benefits for
economic growth and development and for both
preschool and school-age children
Poor countries will need funding assistance from rich
countries and international organizations
Need a Global Fund for Early Childhood Care and
Education
For More Information:
McGill Institute for
Health and Social Policy
www.mcgill.ca/ihsp
[email protected]
Forgotten Families: Ending the
Growing Crisis Confronting
Children and Working Parents
in the Global Economy. New
York: Oxford University Press,
2006.