Issue 1: Universal Social Security
The growing diversification of employment and work arrangements has implications for access to adequate social protection. The phenomenon is compounded by the emergence of new forms of work, automation and globalization. It is well known that there has been a lot of diversification of work resulting in major changes in the labour market. The global supply chains connect industries and workers throughout the globe, new technologies have been transform the work organisations, leading to the emergence of new forms of work which were unheard of a few decades ago. Such changes in work dynamics has over the period resulted in greater informality of work, thereby resulting in lower levels of protection. Today, many countries are still facing significant challenges in making the human right to social security a reality for all. As of 2020, only 46.9 per cent of the global population were effectively covered by at least one social protection benefit1 (Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 1.3.1), while the remaining 53.1 per cent – as many as 4.1 billion people – were left wholly unprotected. Behind this global average, there are significant inequalities across and within regions, which call for adequate and adapted policy responses
Issue 2: Women and Future of Work
Gender equality and promoting women’s economic empowerment has remained central to policy discourses in G20 countries. The global labour market participation of women has been low in comparison to men which reflect on high inequality and labour market challenges. Over the years, the G 20 summits and other collective agreements have tried to address the issue of labour market inequalities through several commonly agreed policy initiatives. In addition to these challenges, the onslaught of digital technology and technological transformation has led to unprecedented changes in the world of work leading to the rise in new forms of employment, digitalisation, gig economy, skill challenges and inequalities which disproportionately affects different sections of workers including women workers. Alongside the issue of reducing the gender gap in labour market participation, the G20 countries also identified the need to address the challenges due to digitization, automation, globalisation etc and the need to focus on new skills, new forms of work, and promotion of innovative institutional frameworks for building an inclusive future of work. The G20 summit in 2018, Argentina had recognised the need to address future of work as a shared priority to achieve fair and sustainable development.