In Sri Lanka’s remote hill communities, growing demographic shifts, rugged terrain, and economic pressures are leaving many older adults without the support they need. Recent field research from the Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA) highlights the realities of “care poverty” in Kandy’s hill villages, where isolation, youth migration, and limited social safety nets create deep vulnerabilities. The findings emphasize that elder care should no longer be treated strictly as a private family responsibility. Instead, it should be recognized as an essential part of the social support systems needed for human development, economic participation, and intergenerational wellbeing. This research was conducted under the FutureWORKS Asia initiative, administered by LIRNEasia, and is part of the FutureWORKS Collective—a global effort supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada.
How can platform workers in the Philippines navigate extreme climate events, job insecurity, and shifting technological landscapes? These intersecting challenges threaten the livelihoods of platform workers already navigating the structural precarity of informal, digitally mediated work. A policy report by the DLSU Social Development Research Center and the Manila Observatory examines how climate change and technological development expose the limitations of existing social protection systems for platform workers in the Philippines. The report highlights key policy recommendations, including flexible social protection, mandatory accident insurance, and worker-centred app safety features to help build more resilient and inclusive labour markets. This research was conducted under the FutureWORKS Asia initiative, administered by LIRNEasia, and is part of the FutureWORKS Collective—a global effort supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada.
As societies grow older, their needs too evolve, with greater pressure on care systems being widely acknowledged as a critical issue. Broadly, care work involves supporting the physical, mental and development needs of people either directly or indirectly, while a care system refers to its overall organization (UN, 2024). Care is an integral component of the world of work. When care needs are sufficiently met, it can lead to better health and wellbeing outcomes and allow people to reach their full potential in productive work. Caring is in turn also a form of work in both paid and unpaid capacities, whether it is performed within or outside the home.
Artificial intelligence is reshaping debates about the future of work across the world. This policy note examines how AI exposure is measured, reviews the occupational data and methodologies underlying widely cited estimates, and discusses what these approaches imply for labour markets in low- and middle-income countries.
Ayesha Zainudeen (with contributions from Anah Cassim, Anish Fonseka and Chanduni Bandara)[†] The Asia Pacific region is home to 60% of the world’s population and an estimated 57% of the world’s labor force. However, there is great heterogeneity across the region between the countries and their labor market contexts, differing in their stages of structural and demographic transformation, as well as their socio-economic compositions, level of formality in their economies, as well as the level of policy capacity. While global, regional and local changes and disruptions to social and economic systems pervade, this heterogeneity affects how their impacts manifest –particularly on the most vulnerable and marginalized groups. Notwithstanding the vast sub-regional differences, on average the region’s largest employers are the agriculture sector (30% of the workforce in 2021), manufacturing (16%), and wholesale/retail trade (15%).[1] The agriculture sector is often characterized by high levels of informality; low, if not zero wage levels; low productivity; poor working conditions; but it is a significant employer of women across the region.
