SHAPING THE FUTURE HOW CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS CAN POWER HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
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FIGURE 2.8:<br />
Growth in labour productivity has been rapid<br />
Source: Based on ILO 2015a.<br />
FIGURE 2.9:<br />
Many jobs remain in agriculture, while the<br />
share in manufacturing lags<br />
low wages in the region (Figure 2.10). Twenty-four<br />
percent of working people in South Asia<br />
earn less than $1.25 a day, while 61 percent earn<br />
less than $2 a day—meaning they are trapped<br />
in dire poverty even as they are working. In<br />
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan,<br />
more than 80 percent of working people<br />
earn less than $4 daily. The size of the middle<br />
class, or workers earning from $4 to $13 a day,<br />
is growing in Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka,<br />
but is still small in other parts of South Asia.<br />
A growing middle class adds an extra boost to<br />
growth and human development.<br />
In South-east Asia and the Pacific, 11 percent<br />
of working people take home less than $1.25<br />
a day, while another 32 percent earn less than<br />
$2 a day. Even where most people live above<br />
the poverty line, many workers hover near it,<br />
earning between $2 and $4 a day. Fifty percent<br />
of workers fall into this category in Cambodia,<br />
Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic,<br />
Marshall Islands, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea,<br />
Timor-Leste and Viet Nam. They are highly<br />
vulnerable to shocks and could easily fall back<br />
into poverty.<br />
East Asia is better off, mainly due to progress<br />
in China in creating better-paid jobs. The<br />
middle class there has grown rapidly; more than<br />
40 percent of working people now earn between<br />
FIGURE 2.10:<br />
Low-skilled jobs lead to low wages<br />
and poverty traps<br />
Source: Based on ILO 2015a.<br />
tration, real estate, transport, and wholesale and<br />
retail trade. Modern service sectors, including<br />
finance, business consulting, IT and research,<br />
have yet to take off, although the IT sector in<br />
India has expanded rapidly, while the Philippines<br />
attracts a huge number of outsourced telecommunication<br />
services. Except for in China; Hong<br />
Kong, China (SAR); the Republic of Korea<br />
and Singapore, the productivity of the service<br />
sector is around 30 percent, lower than that of<br />
OECD countries. 6<br />
The prevalence of low-skilled jobs explains<br />
Source: Based on ILO 2015a.<br />
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