WHILE migrant workers account for 5 percent of the global labor force, many of them are in informal jobs, making them vulnerable to job insecurity and Covid-19, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO).
In its latest report, ILO noted that the total number of migrant workers increased by 3 percent to 169 million in 2019 from 164 million in 2017.
However, ILO said many migrant workers are employed in “temporary, informal or unprotected jobs” and the pandemic deepend their vulnerability.
“The pandemic has exposed the precariousness of their situation. Migrant workers are often first to be laid-off, they experience difficulties in accessing treatment and they are often excluded from national Covid-19 policy responses,” said Manuela Tomei, Director of the ILO Conditions of Work and Equality Department.
Many of those regarded as highly vulnerable are women migrant workers who are “over-represented in low-paid and low-skilled jobs,” and have limited access to social protection and other support services.
“The labor force participation rate of migrants is higher than or at par with non-migrants. The exceptionally high labour force participation rate of migrants (and low participation of non- migrants) in the Arab States (at 78.5 percent) is noteworthy,” the report noted.
Where they are based on the data, over two-thirds of international migrant workers are hosted by high-income countries.
Of the 169 million international migrant workers, 63.8 million or 37.7 percent are in Europe and Central Asia while another 43.3 million or 25.6 percent are in the Americas.
ILO said collectively, Europe and Central Asia and the Americas host 63.3 percent of all migrant workers. The Arab States, and Asia and the Pacific each host about 24 million migrant workers; together they account for 28.5 percent of all migrant workers.
In Africa, ILO counted 13.7 million migrant workers, representing 8.1 percent of the total.
Further, the majority of migrant workers in the continent —99 million—are men, while 70 million are women.
“Women face more socioeconomic obstacles as migrant workers and are more likely to migrate as accompanying family members for reasons other than finding work,” ILO said in a statement.
“They can experience gender discrimination in employment and may lack networks, making it difficult to reconcile work and family life in a foreign country,” it added.
Young migrants
ILO said the share of youth migrant workers—aged 15 to 24 years old—rose by almost 2 percent to 16.8 million in 2019.
This meant 3.2 million of these young migrant workers joined the labor force before the pandemic, from only 13.6 million in 2017.
The total share of youth among international migrant workers rose from 8.3 percent in 2017 to 10 percent in 2019.
ILO attributed this rise to high youth unemployment rates in many developing countries.
The large majority of migrant workers or 86.5 percent are between the ages of 25 and 64, and considered prime-age adult migrant workers.