- Fewer than 400 billionaires hold assets that equal the cumulative worth of 45 per cent of the world's population. - Gro Harlem Brundtland, Reith lectures 2000
- Average global per capita income has now passed $5,000 a year - 2.6 times that of 1950 - but more than 1.3 billion people still live on less than $1 a day. - Global Environment Outlook 2000
- At least 150 million people worldwide were unemployed at the end of 1998. - Vital Signs 1999-2000
- The unpaid work of women was estimated to be worth $12 trillion worldwide in 1995. - United Nations Development Programme
- The US notches up the greatest number of working hours in the developed world, with a yearly average of 1,966 in 1997 compared with Norway's 1,399. East Asian workers labour the longest in developing countries, with those of Hong Kong, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand clocking up 2,200-2,300 hours annually. - ABCnews.com using International Labor Organization figures
- It is estimated that 120 million children between the ages of five and 14 work at least full time. If children for whom work is a secondary activity are included, the figure reaches 250 million. - International Labor Organization