EMPLOYMENT SHOCK, LABOUR-MARKET INEQUALITY, AND PUBLIC HEALTH AFTER COVID-19: A GLOBAL SECONDARY POLICY ANALYSIS, 2020-2024

Background: Employment is a central social determinant of health, yet post-pandemic labour-market recovery has often been narrated in aggregate economic terms that obscure continuing deficits in access to decent work, income security, and inclusive participation. Methods: This article uses a secondary policy-analysis design based on official International Labour Organization (ILO), United Nations (UN), and World Health Organization (WHO) publications issued between 2021 and 2025. It synthesizes key global indicators on unemployment, jobs gaps, pandemic-related working-hour losses, labour-income decline, youth unemployment, real wages, informality, and gender gaps, and interprets them through a public-health lens.