Work and Job Quality

This chapter addresses both the quantity of jobs and their quality – i.e. the material and non-material aspects of people’s working conditions. Since 2010, Work and Job Quality has generally improved across OECD countries: employment rates among adults have risen by 5 percentage points, and real earnings have increased, on average, by 7%, cumulatively. Long-term unemployment, the share of youth not in employment, education or training (NEET), labour market insecurity, the number of employees working long hours and job strain have each improved for the OECD on average – though not for all countries. Women are less likely to be employed and more likely to be long-term unemployed or NEET, relative to men. Men earn 13% more than women, but have higher rates of job strain and are more likely to regularly work long hours. Young adults and those without a tertiary education fare less well than older and more educated workers.