While many studies in historical sociology have explored official statistics and their categories at the national level, including the role of statistical offices in the construction of the nation-state, statistics produced by international organizations, the standards and representations of the world that they transport, remain a field of research to be built. In the same way that national statistics have made the nation the frame of reference to observe labor relationships, in this article, we will develop the thesis that international occupational statistics play a key role in the construction of a globalized field of reference. Using the example of the evolutions of the category “family workers” in the ilo statistics between 1919 and 1982, this contribution uncovers the social and cognitive conditions for the emergence of a global comparative framework.