TUAC NEWS
OECD Publication - Perspectives on Global Development 2012: Social cohesion in a Shifting World
OECD: Strong Labour Market Institutions are necessary for social cohesion
21/11/2011
A new OECD report, Perspectives on Global Development 2012: Social Cohesion in a Shifting World, examining why social cohesion matters for fast growing developing countries, argues “that social cohesion is a valuable goal in itself and contributes to maintaining long-term economic growth.” The report also finds that “growth paths in which social inequalities are wide, exclusion widespread, and the scope for voicing dissent small are unlikely to be sustainable.” Looking at social cohesion from three different perspectives, from social inclusion, social capital and social mobility, the report concludes that “strengthening social cohesion becomes a critical policy objective. Governments which ignore questions of social cohesion risk having to face social instability and undertake ineffective policy interventions.”
One of the chapters of the report gives particular attention to employment and social protection policies as key pillars of social cohesion. Subsequent to a detailed analysis of the challenges that shifting wealth has brought about in developing countries, it concludes that there is a strong need “for the establishment of labour market institutions that can facilitate the wage setting, distributional and allocative roles of labour markets.” The report acknowledges that labour market institutions assist markets to adjust and that minimum wages are a useful tool against in-work poverty.
TUAC General Secretary John Evans welcomed the report and its recommendations to strengthen social cohesion. “It is good news that the OECD Perspectives on Global Development have developed evidence-based recommendations on how to strengthen social cohesion. Its findings and recommendations on the value of strong labour market institutions call for shift away from policies aiming to deregulate labour market. It is also important that the report makes it clear that measures to strengthen social protection are affordable. That must be taken as a call to put social policy issues more firmly on the agenda of international organisations as well as national governments” he said.
http://www.oecd.org/document/3/0,3746,en_21571361_49041236_49053699_1_1_1_1,00.html