Under MDG 1, a new target added in 2007 addresses productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people. This focus on female productive employment acknowledges the contribution of female employment to poverty and hunger reduction at the household level. The connection between poverty and employment is particularly relevant when considering those in vulnerable employment, defined as self-employed workers or those contributing to family work with little or no pay. These informal work arrangements usually lack social protection, and pay is usually too low to generate savings. Vulnerable employment has decreased globally by three percentage points since 1997. But about 1.5 billion people are still in this category and the share is larger for women at 51.7 per cent. This discrepancy is worse in some regions: Eight out of ten women workers are in vulnerable employment in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia (Figure MDG1.1).

Figure MDG1.1: More Women in Vulnerable Employment than Men

The share of vulnerable employment has declined from 1997 to 2007, but it is still high, particularly for women in sub-Saharan Africa and in South Asia.

Notes: Vulnerable employment is calculated as the sum of own-account workers and contributing family workers. Own-account workers are persons who are self-employed with no employees working for them. Contributing family workers are own-account workers who work without pay in an establishment operated by a related person living in the same household. Regional averages are calculated by ILO using UNIFEM's regional classification. The value labels shown are for 2007.
Sources: ILO Key Indicators of the Labour Market database; ILO (2008); and estimates provided by ILO to UNIFEM on request.