1. Work and human development— analytical links The true aim of development is not only to boost incomes, but also to maximize human choices—by enhancing human rights, freedoms, capabilities and opportunities and by enabling people to lead long, healthy and creative lives. Critical to this process is work, central to human existence. Human beings prepare for work as children, engage in work as adults and expect to retire from work in later life. Through the human lifecycle, quality of life is thus closely bound to the quality of work. From an economic perspective, work enables people to earn a livelihood and achieve economic security. But from a human development perspective, it also allows people to enhance their capabilities by providing them with acquired skills and knowledge. Income from work helps workers achieve a better standard of living and allows them to have better access to health and education—critical ingredients to enhancing capabilities. Work also provides people with expanded opportunities and choices in their economic and social lives. It allows workers to participate fully in society while affording them a sense of dignity and worth. And work that involves caring for others builds social cohesion and strengthens bonds within families and communities. To contribute to human development, work needs to be productive, worthwhile and meaningful —and to unleash human potential, creativity and spirit. Work also strengthens societies. By working together, human beings not only increase material well-being, they also accumulate a wide body of knowledge that serves as the basis for cultures and civilizations. In addition, work should make societies fairer by providing opportunities for poor people to strive for a better living. When work is environmentally friendly, the benefits extend through generations. Work thus enhances human development. Needless to say, by improving human capabilities, opportunities and choices, human development also contributes to work. In short, work and human development are synergistic and mutually reinforcing (see infographic at the beginning of the chapter). However, the link between work and human development is not automatic. Work can be
tiring, boring, repetitive and dangerous. And just as the right kind of work enhances human development, so the wrong kind can be deeply destructive. Around the world millions of people, many of them still children, are forced into exploitative labour. Some are trapped in bonded labour that robs them of their rights and dignity. Some work in hazardous conditions deprived of labour rights and social protection, spending their days in drudgery that stifles their potential (see table A1.1 at the end of the chapter). And while work should create fairer societies, it can also be divisive if vast differences in opportunities and rewards perpetuate divisions and inequalities.
Work is broader than jobs The notion of work is broader and deeper than that of jobs or employment (box 1.1). Jobs provide income and support human dignity, participation and economic security. But the jobs framework is restrictive. It fails to capture many kinds of work that are more flexible and open-ended, including care work, voluntary work and creative expression, such as writing or painting—all of which are important for human development. Embracing these other dimensions requires a broader notion of work (figure 1.1). Seen in this way, work is very diverse. It can be paid or unpaid, formal or informal, and carried out within households or outside (see table A1.2 at the end of the chapter). And it can take place in very different circumstances, pleasant or unpleasant, offering a wide range of rights and opportunities, all reflecting different contexts and levels of development.
The notion of work is broader and deeper than that of jobs or employment
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