In everyday conversation, “livelihood” is often used as just another word for a job. Jobs are of course a good and, in fact, crucial part of improving the lives of the world’s poor or otherwise vulnerable people. But for too many people, a job contributes to vulnerability; it may provide an income but not an opportunity to prosper. At The Rockefeller Foundation, our focus on Secure Livelihoods seeks to go beyond just jobs. That’s why we focus on livelihoods and employment as a source of opportunity, not just income. We hope to spur systems change with the potential to expand opportunity by promoting inclusive markets in a changing global economy.
The emerging challenges within the area of Secure Livelihoods were covered in a recent collaboration between the Foundation and Accenture Development Partnerships and included in the recently-released Accenture report, “A Critical Scan of Four Key Topics for the Philanthropic Sector.”