The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) publishes the 2015 Human Development Report (HDR). On this occasion, the focus of the document is on work, considered a dynamic driver for improving human development, which, in turn, is understood as the index that measures human progress and welfare.

The document examines the relation between human development and work, in a broad sense of the term, considering activities like looking after people for nothing, voluntary work and creative and artistic work. The quality of work is a key aspect in human development, which is why the report refers so often to the importance of “a decent job”.

One of the report’s conclusions is that a decent job, along with other factors such as health and education, has helped to attain major advances in the area of Development. Two billion people have climbed out of the lowest level of human development over the last 25 years, but the benefits of work have not been equally distributed and important challenges remain to be faced, such as poverty, inequality, environmental sustainability, instability and other conflicts.

The document highlights financial inclusion as a fundamental strand for structural transformation and job creation, as lack of access to the financial system is one of the main obstacles to business activity and growth.  The report considers that public policies should promote access to the financial system, especially in remote areas and in specific sectors.