1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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 It was agreed in Nov 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. Statistics Canada • Statistique Canada
Thank you! Questions?
Statistics Canada • Statistique Canada
15/01/2019