The Asia–Pacific Region

In this chapter, we begin with a story about the high percentage of migrant women in the informal sector in South Asia, their meagre incomes and lack of access to basic social protections. This story captures some of the complexities of informal work and a political economy of LLL in the Asia–Pacific region. For example, in the Pacific Island countries the formal sector is limited by job creation, underemployment and a growing number of disengaged young people. In East Asia and the Pacific, urban areas are experiencing population growth that is outpacing economic development creating significant challenges for low-income workers vulnerable to reduced wages and redundancy. We explain how international organisations are investing in LLL ecosystems and supporting people through the future of work transitions. We then discuss the limits and possibilities of the digitalisation of a political economy for LLL. In our provocation we argue that a political economy of LLL must acknowledge the limits and possibilities, the promise of LLL, and explore the complex intersections, the diversity of people in diverse contexts, their hopes, desires and aspirations for their futures.