All you need is love and......

Having mused on what people need and want the very next thing I read was the Introduction to 'The Coming Jobs War' by Jim Clifton. He says that  based on extensive polling by Gallup the one thing that "would change the current state of humankind" is the emergence of 1.8bn real jobs. He argues it would create "worldwide peace, global well being and the next extraordinary advancements in human development". A fairly ambitious claim. His maths is interesting.

"Of the 7 billion people on Earth, there are 5 billion adults aged 15 and older. Of these 5 billion, 3 billion tell Gallup they work or want to work. Most of these people need a full-time formal job. The problem is that there are currently only 1.2 billion full-time formal jobs in the world. "

That gives rise to his gap of 1.8 billion. From my experience of young people in the UK, discussing unemployment in Europe and from travelling in Africa I realise that he has a strong point. Having a good, formal job that provides steady and secure income and a sense of purpose is a key determinant of human well being.

I guess it should be 'all you need is love....and a job'.