What does the JustJobs Index show?
Briefly put: Job quality is improving globally, but not without hiccups and stutters. The graph above shows the aggregate for the world.

The JustJobs Index is conceptually anchored with the ILO’s decent work dimensions and article 7 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (see read more). The index covers five dimensions of just jobs: employment, social security, safety at work, gender equality and social dialogue. Fafo has constructed a database on more than 100 JustJobs indicators from about 200 countries spanning the years 2000 up to 2013 from various public data sources. Due to missing data, there are two versions of the index. The global JJI2014 includes 10 indicators across three dimensions – employment, social security and gender equality – and covers 148 countries. The enhanced JJI2014 includes 16 indicators across four dimensions of just jobs – employment, social security, gender equality and social dialogue – and covers 46 countries. The OECD countries and other big economies such as the BRICS are included.

Labour standards set at the ILO and the UN are among the oldest and well-established sets of international norms, but challenges remain with respect to national implementation. The JustJobs Index measures state performance on economic and social rights. Article 7 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CESCR.aspx) covers the right to enjoy just and favorable conditions of work:

“The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of just and favorable conditions of work which ensure, in particular: (a) Remuneration which provides all workers, as a minimum, with: (i) Fair wages and equal remuneration for work of equal value without distinction of any kind, in particular women being guaranteed conditions of work not inferior to those enjoyed by men, with equal pay for equal work; (ii) A decent living for themselves and their families in accordance with the provisions of the present Covenant; (b) Safe and healthy working conditions; (c) Equal opportunity for everyone to be promoted in his employment to an appropriate higher level, subject to no considerations other than those of seniority and competence; (d ) Rest, leisure and reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay, as well as remuneration for public holidays.”

By building on the conceptual framework of the ILO and the UN, the JustJobs Index is the first international measure of its kind to offer an essential focus on employment quality to complement various indices such as the human development index (HDI).