Quality of work

The concept of quality of work includes both formal and informal employment, with particular attention to the safety and quality of work, as well as perceptions of autonomy, purpose and fair treatment.

Employment is the main source of income for most households globally; having a good and decent job is generally associated with being out of poverty. Additionally, employment can give a sense of self-respect and fulfilling life.

Yet many jobs pay less than $1 a day, are of poor quality and unsafe, with risky working conditions and little or no security. More data are needed on the quality of work, and particularly on informal workers and the self-employed.

The missing dimensions modules have been implemented and integrated into multi-topic household surveys. Read more about how they have been used in projects around the world.

Related reading

Cassar, L. (2010). ‘Quality of Employment and Job Satisfaction: Evidence from Chile’, Research in Progress 17a, University of Oxford.

Lugo, M. A. (2007). ‘Employment: A proposal for internationally comparable indicators’, Working Paper 2, University of Oxford. An abridged version in Spanish of this paper is available here.