Decommodification

Decommodification as a concept comes from the idea that in a market economy, individual persons (and their labor) are commodified. Given that labor is the individual's primary commodity in the market, decommodification refers to activities and efforts (generally by the government) that reduce individuals' reliance on the market (and their labor) for their well-being. In general, unemployment, sickness insurance and pensions are used to measure decommodification for comparisons of the welfare state.