SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth explained

SDG 8? Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Hi #sustainability champions, today we continue our? journey exploring the individual SDGs one by one to polish our knowledge and upskill in SDG learning. As mentioned before we send out a post approximately once or twice weekly until we have gone through all 17 SDGs. Today we tackle? SDG 8 - Decent work and Economic Growth.

You can follow or connect with us and see what we have to offer related to upskilling your change maker abilities (of tools and training) on our SDG toolkit webpages. ?

So let’s explore Sustainable Development Goal 8 (SDG 8), also known as? "Decent work and Economic Growth" in a concise manner suitable for learning.

What is SDG 8 about?

Sustainable Development Goal 8 (SDG 8) is a global commitment to "promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all". It covers a substantial and diverse variety of topics such as economic development, labour productivity, informal employment, earnings (including the gender pay gap), workplace conditions (including safety and security), unemployment, youth not in education, employment or training, forced labor, modern slavery and human trafficking, child labour and occupational injuries, but also about resources efficiency in production and consumption, sustainable tourism, and more.

Why does SDG 8 matter?

The quest for decent work for all, for productive, high-quality employment and for inclusive labour markets through? promotion of inclusive and sustainable economic development, employment and decent work, is encompassed in SDGl 8, but it is also seen as a cross-cutting topic, underlying many other goals as well and intertwined with many targets across the 2030 Agenda.

From eradication of poverty (SDG 1), end hunger (SDG 2), provision of good health and well-being (SDG 3), quality education (SDG 4), and gender equality (SDG 5) it covers most if not all SDGs in a direct or indirect manner, hence the type and way of economic development in both developed and developing countries alike is critically important to achieve the SDGs and its targets, be it for the environment, for society and economy.

Economic development should be a positive force for the whole planet.This is why we must make sure that economic progress creates decent and fulfilling jobs while not harming the environment. We must protect labour rights and once and for all put a stop to modern slavery and child labour. If we promote job creation with expanded access to financial services, we can make sure that everybody gets the benefits of entrepreneurship and innovation.

Preserving the environment is key to supporting sustainable economic development as the natural environment plays a key role in supporting economic activities. It contributes directly, by providing resources and raw materials such as water, timber and minerals that are required as inputs for the production of goods and services; and indirectly, through services provided by ecosystems including carbon sequestration, water purification, managing flood risks, and nutrient cycling.

Natural disasters directly affect economic activities leading to very high economic losses throwing many households into poverty. Maintaining ecosystems and mitigating climate change can therefore have a great positive impact on countries` economic and employment sectors.

Sustained and inclusive economic development is a prerequisite for sustainable development and vice versa, which can contribute to improved livelihoods for people around the world. Economic development can lead to new and better employment opportunities and provide greater economic security for all. Moreover, economic development, especially among the least developed and developing countries, can help them reduce the wage gap relative to developed countries, thereby diminishing glaring inequalities between the rich and poor.

• After a sharp 3.9% decline in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the global economy rebounded with a 5.3% increase in real GDP per capita in 2021. However, growth slowed to 2.2% in 2022 and slowed down further to 1.0% in 2023, before picking up slightly to 1.8% and 1.5% in 2024 and 2025, respectively. At the same time productivity growth stagnated in 2022 and 2023, remaining below 0.5%. This sluggish trend stands in stark contrast to the pre-pandemic period of 2015 to 2019, where the rate exceeded 1.5%. The recent slow productivity growth poses a risk to economic development and living standards, given its role as a driver of economic development.
• Over 2 billion workers globally were employed informally, accounting for 58.0% of the global workforce. This figure is expected to see a marginal decrease to 57.8% in 2024. The decline of the informality rate by less than a percentage point since 2015 is far too slow for widespread formalization to occur anytime soon. Also, the global unemployment rate not only rebounded, dipping below its pre-pandemic level, but also achieved a historic low since 2000, settling at 5.1%. However, projections indicate a slight increase in global unemployment in 2024, with approximately 2 million more individuals unemployed, leading to a 5.2% unemployment rate. Women and youth continue to experience higher unemployment rates compared to their male and adult counterparts worldwide and across most regions.
• The global not in education, employment, or training rate for young people was 21.7%, showing a significant decrease since 2020 and nearing the 2015 baseline of 21.8%. This rate is expected to persist through 2025. There is a critical need to intensify initiatives aimed at reducing not in education, employment, or training rates among youth, especially focusing on young women. Globally, young women are still more than twice as likely as young men to be in this category. In 2023, less than half of the reporting countries (36 out of 87) had implemented a national strategy for youth employment. About one-third of these countries possess a strategy but lack clear evidence of its implementation, while one-fifth are in the process of developing one..
• From 2015 to 2022, the global average level of national compliance with labor rights declined by 7%. This decline is observed across both developed and developing countries and has become more pronounced in all regions since 2020. Recent data indicates that ongoing crises have led to an increase in violations of labour rights in practice and, alarmingly, by violations of fundamental civil liberties of workers, employers, and their organizations. In this context child labour remains very prevelent, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (often more than 20% of children affected), but also to some extent in some Central and South-East Asian and Latin American countries.?
• The Global Findex 2021 reports that despite 76% of adults having a financial account, 41% lack financial resilience. Financial resilience means being unable to access extra funds equivalent to 5% of their country's gross national income within 30 days of a financial shock like a health emergency or job loss. This varies by region, with South Asia being the least financially resilient (only 32%) and East Asia the most (77%).
• The overall material footprint (the material footprint for biomass, fossil fuels, metal ores, and non-metal ores) per capita has continuously increased from 9.34 tonnes in 2000 to 12.28 tonnes per person per year in 2022, of course with vast differences between regions and countries (most developed countries are above 20 tonnes per person per year and many poor countries below 5 tonnes per person per year) and? as ecological footprint accounting shows (with the world in ecological overshoot since the 1970s and requiring 1.8 planet earth annually to supply all material needs of humanity, with developed countries often in need of 4 to 5 planets to provide a similar lifestyle for all of humanity). In the same time period the material footprint per GDP, has only marginally declined from 1.19 kg/$ to 1.09 kg/$, which is way insufficient relative decoupling to reign in overshoot or the exceedance of planetary boundaries.

Key targets and indicators??

SDG 8 is defined by 12 targets, which? are measured by 16? indicators, which makes SDG 8 one of the larger SDG to tackle, ensuring progress can be tracked and goals can be met, that look at all dimensions of decent work and economic development for all which explores a variety of topics related to work and economy.? This includes how to support sustainable economies and decent work, for youth employment, workers rights and safe and secure work places, abolish slave and forced labor as well as human trafficking and resources use efficiency. The main targets summarised include (if you want to know the exact wording in the Agenda 2030 you should have a look here):

• sustain per capita economic growth in accordance with national circumstances, especially least developed countries
• promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation,
• achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men and equal pay
• eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour
• devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism
• Increase Aid for Trade support for developing countries
• achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation
• improve progressively, global resource efficiency in consumption and production and endeavour to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation
• substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training
• protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers
• encourage and expand access to banking, insurance and financial services for all
• develop and operationalise a global strategy for youth employment

Challenges & Progress:?

Progress towards SDG 8 still faces challenges from COVID-19 aftermath, trade tensions, rising debts in developing nations, conflicts, and geopolitical strains, collectively threatening global economic development. While labour markets have shown resilience, uneven pandemic recovery, the declining protection of labor rights and emerging vulnerabilities erode social justice prospects. It is foreseen a worsening labour market outlook, with higher unemployment and sluggish growth in 2024, exacerbating income inequality and jeopardizing equitable pay for women and decent work for young people. Achieving SDG 8 mandates policies fostering economic development with a focus on social justice and inclusive employment.

‘In the year 2009, at the height of the world financial crisis, it was clear that we saw something new. The effects of the crisis were flowing with unprecedented speed across all borders.’ Ban-Ki Moon, Former Secretary General of the UN.?

Accelerating progress demands sustainable economic policies, support for entrepreneurship and innovation, formalization of the informal economy, safeguards of workers' rights, social justice, and inclusive employment opportunities, especially for women and youth, but at the same time significant increases in resources use efficiency and reduced energy throughput, but similarly for sustainable tourism will be essential to achieve this goal.?

Overall the latest UN SDG progress report on SDG 8 shows variable progress from regression (economic productivity, child & forced labor, labor rights and workplace conditions, sustainable tourism), marginal progress (youth employment, economic growth), to moderate progress (full employment & decent work, aid for trade, resources use efficiency), but also one target on track (i.e. access to financial services) but overall way off track? with enormous regional differences and hugely significant acceleration is required on most of? SDG 8 targets. Global unemployment hit a historic low of 5 per cent in 2023 yet persistent roadblocks remain in achieving decent work. Women and youth face higher unemployment rates. Informal employment poses a significant global challenge, with over 2 billion workers in informal jobs lacking social protection in 2023. In the LDCs, and in sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Southern Asia, nearly 9 in 10 workers are informally employed. Alarmingly, over one in five young people are not in education, employment or training (NEET). Compliance with fundamental labour rights has deteriorated. Overall, a fairly long way to go and off track to reach the 2030 targets.?

If you would like to know more about where your country currently stands with SDG 8 (and all other SDGs), you can check out the latest Sustainable Development Report - Country Profiles (as well as Rankings, Interactive Maps and a Data Explorer), and additional visual presentations available on Our World in Data, other resources provided before or specifically the International Labor Organisation page on SDG 8. SDG 8 is and has been very contentious in many circles particularly in relation to economic growth (and GDP), which flies into the face of planetary boundaries, climate change and other socio-ecological issues. However, it is important to look at the details and nuances of the targets and indicators of SDG 8 to also realise that it is not about growth at all costs, but it is beyond this short blog to discuss this topic further and would warrant at least a? number of posts by itself (and is covered in some of the Gaia Education educational offerings including the SDGs Multipliers course), but to refer to a brief introduction by Daniel Christian Wahl on SDG 8 to get started here or an in depth perspective from the global south (i.e. Africa), in ‘Hidden Strategies used by the West to keep Africa poor as they develop using Africa’s resources’.?

Globally women are 15% more likely to be unemployed than men, while in Northern Africa and Western Asia this gender gap reaches more than 50%. Despite 76% of adults having a financial account, 41% lack financial resilience (having access to some additional financial resources when needed).?

The development agenda has split the world into developed and underdeveloped nations and runs the risk of dictating one economic model as the model. The growth-imperative of our current economic systems is structurally incorporated in their design. A redesign is not just possible but urgently necessary.?

How to achieve decent work and economic development for all?

Like any other SDG, also SDG 8 would require a multifaceted and multi-dimensional approach, but in general SDG? is one of the more complex and large and tightly interconnected (with other) SDGs to tackle. Some of the more higher level (and often global to national) aspects of achieving SDG 8 could possibly include in summary (but not be limited to) something like the following:

• Promote Economic Diversification: Encourage diverse economic activities to reduce dependency on specific sectors. This includes supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and fostering innovation to create job opportunities and support local to regional integrated development for local to regional communities.
• Enhance Labor Rights: Strengthen labor laws to protect workers' rights, ensuring fair wages, safe and secure working conditions, and the right to organise and to participate in economic decision making. Promoting decent work and conditions should be central to employment policies.
• Invest in Education and Skills Development: Prioritise education and vocational training programs to equip the workforce with relevant skills. This helps meet the demands of a changing job market and supports lifelong learning opportunities.
• Encourage and support Sustainable Practices? Support and later mandate green and sustainable? technologies and sustainable business practices that can stimulate job creation while minimising and reducing environmental impact. This includes promoting energy efficiency and sustainable resource management, but also circular and regenerative economic models in all sectors.
• Increase fair access to Financial Services: Improve access to credit and financial services for individuals and businesses, particularly in underserved communities. This can help stimulate entrepreneurship and economic development for local to regional communities. Micro credits or credit unions are examples of such.?
• Foster Local to Global Partnerships: Collaborate at all levels including internationally to share knowledge, technology, and resources. Building partnerships can enhance investment in sustainable industries and promote job creation across borders.

About half of the world’s population still lives on the equivalent of less than $7 a day. Unemployment has increased from 170 to 210 million between 2007 and 2024, and hundreds of millions of new jobs need to be created for new entrants into the labor market by 2030. Labor productivity is more than twice as high in developed countries than in developing countries and in some cases it is more than 20x as high.?

As ecological and biological systems mature, they tend to shift from quantitative and exponential (ever faster growing) to qualitative and logistic (growing to a point and then finding a steady state) growth patterns. The reintegration of local, regional and global economies into the ecological processes that sustain life on Earth necessitates a shift from quantitative to qualitative growth.?

Instead of putting too much emphasis on generic larger scale ‘solutions’, which are likely somewhat removed from the realities and contexts of many local communities wherever they are. And because the supported approach by Gaia Education for regenerative design and development, is about the context specific potential of each and every place and community. Hence, we want to support the life affirming or life regenerating local to bioregional? conversations and co-creative processes which should be a starting point of whole systems based realisation of SDG 8 and all strongly linked and all other SDG systemically together. From this we provide some useful questions to ask yourself or a group you work with in relation to SDG 8 (sourced from the Gaia Education SDG Flashcards) in a multidimensional manner in the social, ecological, economic and worldview/cultural dimensions.

As you already know this can? provide you with some ideas on how one can possibly work with the SDGs in different (not top down but bottom up) and generative approaches. Based and part of the Gaia Education SDG Flashcards, they contain more than 200 questions on the system-wide approach to achieving the 2030 Agenda.

The cards enable a participatory and problem-centric group conversation and solutions oriented multi-perspectival dialogue. They invite participants to engage and to collaborate to identify actions and solutions to implement the SDGs in ways that are relevant to their lives and communities, locally. This is an effective way to establish local to bioregional community ownership and realisation for the UN SDGs.

The SDG Flashcards are used in the SDG Training of Multipliers. Check out the freely downloadable SDG Training of Multipliers Handbook for a detailed description of how to prepare, promote, and how to use these cards? more easily to promote community activist training, in various settings (e.g. local public bodies, communities, schools, universities, business etc.) as well as many other tools from our SDG webpages.

There are of course many examples of working on SDG 8? and? decent work and economic development in all its forms, sometimes also in a systemic way ?(Post 0).?

Gaia Education is involved in educational and training offerings which support the implementation of the SDGs including SDG 8, but is also part of projects and initiatives where at least one, mostly several SDGs are targeted. Examples of training or project involvement with some focus on SDG 8? in a wider sense are:?

Cultivating Regenerative Livelihoods, Making a living while making a difference (online course),

It can be difficult to make ends meet, let alone find a job that enlivens us and allows us to meaningfully contribute to the ecological, political, and social challenges of our time.?

When we think about our livelihood as our service to the wellbeing of ourselves, each other, and the planet, it opens us to dream and explore new possibilities. Pairing these with regenerative and cooperative economic theories and business models empowers us to actualise them and contribute more substantially to the more equitable, sustainable, and just world we envision.

This course seeks to answer questions like:

• What is right livelihood or regenerative livelihood?
• How do we create a regenerative livelihood for ourselves that is also regenerative for our communities and the world?
• How can we make a difference in the world while earning our living?
• What are the existing models of livelihood and what is emerging?

Economic Design for Sustainability and Regeneration (part of the Design for Sustainability and Regeneration online course),

This course is about regenerative & Cooperative Economic Systems Design to cultivate the understanding, tools and inspiration to contribute to the global just transition to an economics for people and the planet!

A growing number of people and movements around the world are acknowledging that our current economic system is no longer sustainable and are developing the knowledge, support and guidance to contribute to a more cooperative and regenerative economic future. This course aims to share that knowledge and those practices and experiences from across the world to support you in your own exploration of cooperative and regenerative economics.

The course covers:

• Simple and down-to-earth ways to communicate what regenerative economics is
• The assumptions underlying mainstream economic thinking and why they are problematic
• Leading economic models and examples that are cooperative and regenerative by design
• A deeper understanding of the operating principles of capitalism and real viable alternatives?
• Pathways to economic systems change?
• How to build local and bioregional economic resilience?
• Practical ways you can contribute effectively to regenerative and cooperative economics wherever you are in the world