ILO report: Sweden and Finland best countries for wage earners

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According to a report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Sweden is the world’s best country for wage-earners, with Finland a close second.
      The report, Economic Security for a Better World, covers 90 countries and 86% of the world’s population.
      According to the ILO, economic security experienced by workers is a significant factor in assessing the happiness of the people; happiness is seen to enhance stability, growth, and tolerance.
     
An employee’s economic security comprises seven different sub-sectors.
      For instance, Finnish employees have better opportunities to affect the content of their work than their colleagues in many other countries. Finland also has the best protection against illegal termination.
      Other sub-sectors include occupational safety (Finland 4), the possibilities to develop professional skills (2), sufficient income (7), and the possibility to be heard through trade unions, for instance (3).
      The ILO feels that the traditional method of gauging the state of the labour market on the basis of the unemployment rate is seriously obsolete. The reason for this is the increase and greater variety of hidden unemployment.
      For instance, most of the two million people who are in prison in the United States would be unemployed if they were free.
      The ILO’s calculations mean that even though Finland has fairly high unemployment, it is doing well in the seventh sector measuring security: that of work opportunities, in which it ranks ninth.
     
In addition to Finland and Sweden, countries ranking high on the list include Norway, Denmark, and The Netherlands.
      Although it is experiencing strong economic growth, Britain is only in 15th place in overall security. The United States is in 25th place.
      However, Guy Standing, head of the ILO’s socio-economic programme, said in London on Wednesday that even in Finland the ideals of solidarity are deteriorating, and security is seriously weakening.
      Standing, who has studied the Finnish labour market, says that there is increasing pressure for cutbacks in support systems, which is likely to reduce the feeling of security that wage-earners have.
      "At the same time, people’s happiness decreases. That cannot be a good thing for the national economy."


Links:
  ILO press release 1.9.2004: Economic security strengthens tolerance and happiness as well as growth and development

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