Expert Group Meeting on Measuring Quality of Employment, Geneva Brief report on the content development for the “Income from employment” sub-dimension UNECE/ILO/Eurostat Expert Group Meeting on Measuring Quality of Employment, Geneva Jason Gilmore, Senior Analyst Labour Statistics Division Statistics Canada September 11, 2013

Introduction to 2(a): Earnings sub-dimension The intention for this sub-dimension is to present an aspect of quality of employment from the perspective of earnings from employment. Earnings distributions and low pay provide more insight than average earnings, but averages are still important to examine Contextual variables and disaggregations are critical to understanding quality of employment from earnings data Statistics Canada • Statistique Canada 15/01/2019

Recap: Earnings indicators discussed in November 2011 Average weekly and hourly earnings Low pay Distribution of earnings Self-employment income Statistics Canada • Statistique Canada 15/01/2019

Earnings questions/issues arising from November 2011 meeting Hourly, weekly or monthly earnings? Average or median earnings? Recommended disaggregations (age, sex, immigrant, etc.)? Data sources (LFS, administrative, other)? Low pay (half or 2/3 median hourly earnings)? Earnings distribution: quintiles, deciles? Statistique Canada • Statistics Canada 15/01/2019

Statistics Canada • Statistique Canada Earnings decisions arising from November 2012 Expert Group (and subsequent offline discussions) – page 1 Hourly, weekly or monthly earnings? Hourly and monthly earnings would be the target indicators. If only weekly earnings are available, multiply by 4.3 to get approximate monthly earnings. Average or median earnings? Discussed at length. Decision was that the target indicator was to present data on average earnings, but that median earnings was an optional additional indicator. Statistics Canada • Statistique Canada 15/01/2019

Statistics Canada • Statistique Canada Earnings decisions arising from November 2012 Expert Group (and subsequent offline discussions) – page 2 Recommended disaggregations (age, sex, immigrant, etc.)? At minimum, full-time/part time; sex; age group; and vulnerable populations (e.g., immigrants). Others could include: industry/occupation of employment, class of worker (private sector, public sector), etc.. Data sources (LFS, administrative, other)? Whichever data source is the most appropriate for your country. Brian Murphy – decile ratios A source for annual income decile ratios Statistics Canada • Statistique Canada 15/01/2019

Statistics Canada • Statistique Canada Earnings decisions arising from November 2012 Expert Group (and subsequent offline discussions) – page 3 Low pay (half or 2/3 median hourly earnings)? 2/3 median hourly earnings. Coincides with various international standards. Earnings distribution: quintiles, deciles? Deciles is the target indicator. If there are concerns for data quality, quintiles can be used instead. “New”: average self-employment income This had been put to the side in Nov. 2011. It was agreed in Nov. 2012 that it should be on the indicator list, even if there are data availability issues in some countries. Likely to be administrative data source Statistics Canada • Statistique Canada 15/01/2019

Related indicators and sub-dimensions Fair treatment in employment (1(c) ) is a related indicator (i.e., pay differences by gender). The sub-dimension Working Hours (3(a)) is important when looking at monthly (or weekly) earnings, as hours worked affects the interpretation of the data. Statistics Canada • Statistique Canada 15/01/2019

Links to the current indicator sheets on Income from Employment Average earnings Earnings distribution Low pay Self-employment income Statistics Canada • Statistique Canada 15/01/2019

Statistics Canada • Statistique Canada Thank you! Questions? jason.gilmore@statcan.gc.ca Statistics Canada • Statistique Canada 15/01/2019