Wages are the main determinant of living standards for the vast majority of workers and families around the world. This manual describes a new methodology to measure what constitutes a decent but basic standard of living and how much workers need to earn to afford this, making it possible for researchers to estimate comparable living wages around the world and determine gaps between living wages and prevailing wages. The new, practical methodology in this manual draws on 10 years of research and experience to clearly explain each step in the estimation process, based on standards for a low cost nutritious diet, healthy housing, and all other needs including decent health care and children's education. It stresses transparency and the need for time and place specific living wage estimates, and is replete with examples from country studies that have put it to the test. The authors describe how living wages can be estimated in locations and countries where secondary data are limited and make new, practical recommendations on how to value in kind benefits as partial payment of a living wage. An essential tool for Researchers and NGOs interested in wages, poverty, living standards, and corporate social responsibility issues, this manual will also serve company professionals responsible for corporate social responsibility and human resources. It is also an excellent tool for Bank governments and unions, and international organizations such as the United Nations, UNDP, ILO and World Bank involved in setting minimum wages, poverty alleviation programs and trade policies.

Wages are the main determinant of living standards for the vast majority of workers and families around the world. This manual describes a new methodology to measure what constitutes a decent but basic standard of living and how much workers need to earn to afford this, making it possible for researchers to estimate comparable living wages around the world and determine gaps between living wages and prevailing wages. The new, practical methodology in this manual draws on 10 years of research and experience to clearly explain each step in the estimation process, based on standards for a low cost nutritious diet, healthy housing, and all other needs including decent health care and children's education. It stresses transparency and the need for time and place specific living wage estimates, and is replete with examples from country studies that have put it to the test. The authors describe how living wages can be estimated in locations and countries where secondary data are limited and make new, practical recommendations on how to value in kind benefits as partial payment of a living wage. An essential tool for Researchers and NGOs interested in wages, poverty, living standards, and corporate social responsibility issues, this manual will also serve company professionals responsible for corporate social responsibility and human resources. It is also an excellent tool for Bank governments and unions, and international organizations such as the United Nations, UNDP, ILO and World Bank involved in setting minimum wages, poverty alleviation programs and trade policies.

First published in 1982, this collection was the result of an ambitious and wide-ranging, inter-disciplinary research programme conducted by the International Labour Office (ILO) on the relationship between women's roles and demographic change, with a view to influencing contemporary government and non-government policy and future research in the field. The ILO held an informal gathering of leading researchers in the fields of economics, anthropology, sociology and demography and this volume represents a unique and practically-orientated collection, offering valuable insights into contemporary perspectives on women's studies and population dynamics.

This volume assembles the major papers discussed at an international workshop on poverty monitoring to evaluate poverty indicators and poverty monitoring systems in order to increase attention to poverty issues and improve policies to alleviate poverty.;Major areas covered include the measurement of poverty trends, the usefulness of poverty indicators, whether or not structural adjustment policies affect more traditional measures to combat poverty, rapid policy evaluation for vulnerable groups and how international agencies can deal with poverty monitoring issues.;Rolph van der Hoeven is the author of "Planning for Basic Needs: A Soft Option or a Solid Policy?", co-author of "Basic Needs in Development Planning", and co-editor of "World Recession and Global Interdependence" and "Africa's Recovery in the 1990s". Other works by Richard Anker include "Sex Inequalities in Urban Employment in the Third World", "Women's Participation in the Labour Force: A Methods Test for Improving its Measurements", "Economic-Demographic Relationships and Employment in Kenya" and "Fertility Determinants in Developing Countries".

Increased female participation in the labour market is a very significant feature of recent economic developments. This volume analyses how demographic conditions have favoured or slowed the increase and what the demographic effects of the increase will be.

World Employment Programme Background papers for training in population, human resources and development planning. Paper No. 6. The main objective of the Programme is to help Member States incorporate demographic elements into employment-related policies and, more broadly, to facilitate the integration of population and human resources development issues into national development planning. The present paper addresses the issues of assessing women's contribution to economic development.