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conclusions and recommendations<br />

The concept of fair employment is informed by a public health<br />

perspective in which just employment relations, via various<br />

employment conditions (i.e., full-time permanent employment,<br />

unemployment, precarious employment, informal employment, child<br />

labour, and slavery and bonded labour), are a prerequisite for poverty<br />

reduction, health promotion and health inequalities reduction.<br />

in middle-income and poor countries, estimates of<br />

unemployment are between three to seven times higher than in rich<br />

countries. Youth comprise nearly half of the world's total<br />

unemployment. Compared to adults, youth are more than three<br />

times as likely to be unemployed. other groups at high risk of being<br />

unemployed include workers without credentials, single mothers,<br />

ethnic minorities and recent immigrants.<br />

Worldwide, the working poor (i.e. people living be<strong>low</strong> the us2$<br />

poverty line) constitute a large fraction of the employed labour force<br />

(around 1.4 billion people), the majority being women. The largest<br />

burden of precarious workers is overwhelmingly located in <strong>low</strong>income<br />

countries, especially in Africa south of the sahara. over the<br />

past three decades, precarious employment relations have largely<br />

increased in wealthy countries, the largest burden also being born<br />

by younger workers, workers with <strong>low</strong> credentials, women, ethnic<br />

minorities and immigrants.<br />

over the past two decades, informal employment has grown in<br />

most <strong>low</strong>- and middle-income countries. in these countries,<br />

between half and three-fourths of workers are informally employed.<br />

informal employment still comprises a wide range of production and<br />

distribution of goods and services in wealthy countries.<br />

Children are among the most affected by these global labour<br />

market inequities. More than 300 million children (aged 5-17) are<br />

economically active, more than two-thirds are child labourers, and<br />

far more than one-third are engaged in hazardous work. The<br />

proportion of children in the labour market in the group of <strong>low</strong>income<br />

countries shows a large variation, with the highest levels<br />

found in Africa south of sahara as well as in Asian countries.<br />

Although much <strong>low</strong>er than in middle-income and poor countries,<br />

child labour, slavery, trafficking and bonded labour are still present<br />

in high-income countries.<br />

Between 12 and 28 million people are victims of slavery globally,<br />

the majority of whom are in Asia. At least 2.4 million people (mostly<br />

women and girls) are in forced labour as a result of human trafficking.<br />

The conditions under which people work have a direct or indirect<br />

impact on their health. Employment conditions are an antecedent of<br />

working conditions that can affect health either directly or through<br />

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