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In 2022, Statistics Sweden (SCB) introduced a new statistical product in the labour market area, the Population's labour market status (LMS). 1 The product is mainly administrative-based and contains more variables. It has a higher reporting frequency than the previous register statistics in the labour market area (Labour statistics based on administrative sources) 2 and starting from January 2020. 3 The conditions for this register arose when the Swedish Tax Agency began in January 2019 to demand PAYE. 4 Thanks to the unique identity numbers (both individual and firms/organisations) and together with Statistics Sweden’s possibility of obtaining data from the Swedish Tax Agency, Statistics Sweden is now able to produce a comprehensive register of all Swedish residents between 15 and 74 years of age. In Sweden, the Labour Force Surveys (LFS) and LMS are statistics products often used to: monitor, assess and evaluate the current situation and development of the labour market and the economic activity. Demands on the labour market statistics, as well as the prerequisites to produce statistics, have changed dramatically over time. The non-response rate for the LSF is now 57,7 percent (February 2024) and the conditions for using sample surveys get harsher. Meanwhile, users demand more and faster information, both in terms of content and timeliness. Statistics Sweden is also obliged to consider the burden of reporting for firms/organisations and use existing register data as much as possible. The purpose of the statistics is to provide information on the labour supply in Sweden on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis for the entire Swedish population of individuals. LMS provides statistics on the Swedish population divided into six labour market statuses. LMS is used as a basis for analysis, investigations, research and policy decisions on the labour market area. The statistics describe the labour supply and aim to show the current situation of the labour market and its development over time. At the national level, the statistics are used by, government ministries, the Swedish central bank, the National Institute of Economic Research and financial institutions. The statistics are also used at a lower regional level and are used by users at the municipalities and regions. This is a possibility thanks to Sweden's system, whereby all persons are assigned a unique identification number, making it possible to link registry data from various sources. LMS uses administrative registers from: the Swedish Public Employment Service, the Swedish Companies Registration Office, the Swedish Board of Student Finance, the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, the Swedish Pensions Agency and the National Board of Health and Welfare and are used together with Statistics Sweden's basic register of the Total Population Register (TPR) and the Statistical Business Register (SBR).

Sweden has for a long time been considered as one of the world's most gender-equal countries.1 The traditional male-breadwinner model is more or less not synonymous with the labour market in Sweden today. In 2024, it is more accepted with a dual-earner model. However, there still exists a perception of differences in gender equality both for paid work and unpaid work. Despite having a society with a dual-earner model, women in Sweden, as in large parts of the rest of the world, generally have lower income than men. On average, women earn 79.3 percent of men’s disposable income (Medlingsinstitutet, 2023). There is a lot of academic literature that points out on how labour earnings evolve over time for women and men. For example, we have a situation in which before women become mothers, males and females are equal in many labour market outcomes (Kleven,2019). But after women give birth, they fall behind men on the labour market, and it takes many years before women catch up (Kleven, 2019; Angelov, 2016). Previously, income differences between genders have most often been studied from an individual perspective. At statistical agencies, the gender difference is primarily measured by calculating the median (mean) value for women and men, respectively. Secondly, the income difference is calculated from these two median values. However, if differences between men and women in different type of households are studied at the group level, it is not possible to answer the fundamental question of how economic equality within families looks, i.e., at the kitchen table where family decisions are made; such as who will stay home with the sick child and how that will affect economic equality in the households. The analysis in this paper will focus on the difference in educational attainment (highest level of education) within the families, and in particular, women’s labour market outcomes in the years following the birth of their first child. 2 The within family difference in educational attainment has largely been unexplored in the context of associating with labour market outcomes. Nonetheless, it is important to understand these dynamics of women behaviour, given that decisions regarding individuals’ labour supply often are made, e.g., at the kitchen table. The gender difference is calculated in two steps: In the first step, i) we calculate the income difference in each family and based on these differences we calculate various measures of central tendency in a second step to ii) various measures of central tendency to describe gender differences within families.

This paper offers an approach to the quality of employment in dependent contractors in three cities in Mexico, as well as its relationship with labor informality and employment linked to digital platform, based on the 2023 Labor Force Survey (LFS). The first section describes the general aspects of the reference source; the second presents the definition of dependent contractors, their measurement and results; the third section addresses employment linked to digital platforms and its relationship with dependent contractors; the fourth section deals with dependent contractors and informality; while the fifth section offers a global vision of dependent contractors, labor informality, the use of digital platform and quality of employment and finally some conclusions are stated.

This experimental exhaustive analysis of the Italian regular labour incomes is based on the integrated use of Istat statistical registers on income, population and businesses, and on microdata from social security records. The observed time span is 2015-2022.

Delivery services have been a pivotal in all sectors as people seek convenience and access to global products. It has transformed the way business works, especially in the food & beverage and retail sector. The first food delivery service is believed to have taken place in Korea for cold noodles in 1768 (Seouland, 2016). With technological advancements like the World Wide Web (WWW) and Global Positioning System (GPS), delivery work can now be calibrated quickly and efficiently. Consumer demand is also spurred by easy access to personal computers, mobile phones and internet access. In today’s fast paced environment, delivery services provide consumers with convenience as the items or meals can be delivered to their doorstep by placing a simple order on their smartphone or computer. This would eliminate the need to travel to a physical location to queue and acquire the desired service or products. Delivery services also solve the accessibility issue for people living in areas with limited transport options or persons with mobility issues or disabilities. People prioritize work-life balance more and are willing to spend on services that will ease their life and reduce stress. COVID-19 has further accelerated the growth of the delivery business as there is a need to ensure access to goods and services while considering public health and safety. The global food delivery market has tripled since 2017 to a market worth of more than $150 billion (Kabir Ahuja, 2021). To prevent further spread of the virus, safety measures such as lockdowns, social distancing and restriction on business operations were implemented by governments around the world. As such, individuals can only rely on delivery services for their meals, groceries, and other essentials. Several brick-and-mortar businesses such as restaurants, supermarkets and retail stores were forced to limit their operations. In order to keep their operations afloat, businesses transformed their operations to be online and delivery focus to continue serving their customers. The increase in demand for delivery services has created a vacuum for delivery workers. This was almost filled by workers whose job were disrupted due to COVID-19. This includes workers working in sectors such as retail, aviation, and arts. The pandemic has led to a fundamental shift in consumer behavior as people are more accustomed to the convenience of delivery services and businesses have invested in assets and training to provide online services. This behavior shift is likely to persist, driving continual demand for delivery services in the long run. This report looks at delivery partners who in Singapore’s context are own account workers which partners with companies (e.g Grab, Deliveroo, FoodPanda) to use their platform to get jobs. Some equivalent global platforms are Uber Eats, DoorDash and Postmates.

Summary
The secretariat prepared a Terms of Reference (ToR) for the UN/LOCODE Task Force in response to the decision made by the UN/LOCODE Advisory Group at its 2023 meeting to establish a single task force, led by the Vice Chair and supported by the secretariat, to systematically address these challenges raised recently during the UN/LOCODE maintenance proceedings (Decision 23-16).
Following the meeting, the Task Force established four subgroups to address different key issues. The leader of each subgroup reported on its progress; the Vice Chair consolidated the inputs, and the secretariat finalized this report.
The secretariat submits this document to the 2024 meeting of the UN/LOCODE Advisory Group for information.