GOAL 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

SDG 8 recognises the importance of sustained economic growth and high levels of economic productivity for the creation of well-paid quality jobs and the achievement of global prosperity. SDG 8 calls for providing opportunities for full and productive employment and decent work for all while eradicating forced labour, human trafficking and child labour and promoting labour rights and safe and secure working environments.

SDG 8 draws particular attention to creating opportunities for the youth who are not in education, employment and training in order to prevent future erosion of skills and job discouragement.

SDG 8 also foresees enhanced international cooperation to support growth and decent employment in developing countries through increased aid for trade, development-oriented policies and a global strategy for youth employment.

Monitoring SDG 8 in an EU context focuses on progress made in fostering sustainable economic growth, in increasing employment and in providing decent work opportunities.

Education for Sustainable Development Goals

Suggestions for the development of specific sustainability competencies from the action-oriented, transformative educational and learning outcome-oriented guide Education for Sustainable Development Goals, UNESCO (2017)

Suggested learning objectives

Cognitive learning objectives

1. The learner understands the concepts of sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work, including the advancement of gender parity and equality, and knows about alternative economic models and indicators.
2. The learner has knowledge about the distribution of formal employment rates per sector, informal employment, and unemployment in different world regions or nations, and which social groups are especially affected by unemployment.
3. The learner understands the relation between employment and economic growth, and knows about other moderating factors like a growing labour force or new technologies that substitute jobs.
4. The learner understands how low and decreasing wages for the labour force and very high wages and profits of managers and owners or shareholders are leading to inequalities, poverty, civil unrest, etc.
5. The learner understands how innovation, entrepreneurship and new job creation can contribute to decent work and a sustainability-driven economy and to the decoupling of economic growth from the impacts of natural hazards and environmental degradation.

Socio-emotional learning objectives

1. The learner is able to discuss economic models and future visions of economy and society critically and to communicate them in public spheres.
2. The learner is able to collaborate with others to demand fair wages, equal pay for equal work and labour rights from politicians and from their employer.
3. The learner is able to understand how one’s own consumption affects working conditions of others in the global economy.
4. The learner is able to identify their individual rights and clarify their needs and values related to work.
5. The learner is able to develop a vision and plans for their own economic life based on an analysis of their competencies and contexts.

Behavioral learning objectives

1. The learner is able to engage with new visions and models of a sustainable, inclusive economy and decent work.
2. The learner is able to facilitate improvements related to unfair wages, unequal pay for equal work and bad working conditions.
3. The learner is able to develop and evaluate ideas for sustainability-driven innovation and entrepreneurship.
4. The learner is able to plan and implement entrepreneurial projects.
5. The learner is able to develop criteria and make responsible consumption choices as a means to support fair working conditions and efforts to decouple production from the impact of natural hazards and environmental degradation.

Suggested topics

The contributions of economies to human well-being, and the social and individual effects of unemployment

Economic ethics

Theoretical assumptions, models and indicators of economic growth (GDP, GNI, HDI)

Alternative economic models and indicators: steady-state economies, common-welfare economies, degrowth, subsistence economies, Inclusive Wealth Index , Global Hunger Index

Concepts and phenomena in financial systems and their influence on economic development (investments, credits, interests, banks, speculations on the stock exchange, inflation, etc.)

 Labour force (increase in population through birth rates, migration, etc.)

Gender equality in the economy and the (economic) value of care work Inequalities in the labour market: representation and participation of different social groups, and different income/wages and weekly worktime between countries, sectors, social groups, genders

Formal and informal labour, labour rights, especially for migrants and refugees, forced labour, slavery and human trafficking

Entrepreneurship, (social) innovation, new technologies and local economies for sustainable development

Examples of learning approaches and methods

Play devil’s advocate for different economic growth models Plan and implement entrepreneurial and social entrepreneurial projects

Run student internships in conjunction with local businesses

Explore needs and perspectives of employers and employees through interviews

Map out multiple life and career paths Engage with employers in classroom activities

Develop an enquiry-based project: “What can my career contribute to sustainable development?”

External Links

Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations 

Targets and Indicators of Goal 8