This paper studies employment patterns and trends in South Asia to shed light on determinants of extremely low female employment rates in the region.
... See More + After a comprehensive literature review, the authors use employment data from about one hundred censuses and surveys from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka to compare employment trends across countries over time. They work through data inconsistencies to standardize definitions of variables to compare demographic and labor market determinants: age, sector, contract type, location, and education. The paper finds that (i) overall since 2001, women's employment participation across South Asian countries has been low and broadly unchanged; (ii) the gender employment gap emerges more clearly in middle age brackets; (iii) rural female employment is higher than urban; (iv) agriculture is the economic sector accounting for the greatest share of female employment, although this is slowly changing in some countries, and; (v) women with mid-level education tend to have lower employment rates than those with both lower and higher education.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS9157 FEB 19, 2020
Individual-level employment data have a wide range of applications. They are used to monitor labor markets and the Sustainable Development Goals, contribute to understanding and explaining socioeconomic conditions, and may help to design and inform labor market policies.
... See More + This paper is relevant for academics and policy makers who want to understand the main survey design issues behind the collection of individual-level employment data in nationally representative household surveys and the implications for data quality, particularly for women and young people. The paper reviews four survey programs (Living Standards Measurement Study, Living Standards Measurement Study–Integrated Surveys on Agriculture, Labor Force Surveys, and Demographic and Health Surveys) in 14 developing countries. First, the paper reviews the Sustainable Development Goals to identify a core set of labor market indicators and briefly discusses the International Labour Organization's definitions of key concepts that shape these indicators. Second, it assesses whether the Sustainable Development Goals labor market indicators are captured in the reviewed surveys. Third, it takes stock of current approaches to collect employment data and discusses critical survey design features, such as the structure of the labor module and the wording of the questions. Fourth, the paper examines whether these survey design features are gender and age neutral. Data from the Living Standards Measurement Study–Integrated Surveys on Agriculture are used to illustrate these issues. The paper concludes by proposing short- and medium-term objectives to improve the data quality in the Living Standards Measurement Study–Integrated Surveys on Agriculture.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS8882 JUN 11, 2019
This report analyzes issues related to international migration in Armenia and its impact on Armenian households’ welfare. The report uses microdata coming from two recent household surveys, the 2017 Russian-Armenian University survey, a nationally-representative household focused on international migrants and their origin households, and the 2017 Integrated Living Conditions Survey, nationally representative household conducted by the Statistical Committee focused on welfare measurement but also with information on international migrants.
... See More + The report finds that among international migrants, there are some slight differences in the profile of permanent and temporary migrants. Permanent migrants tend to be younger, more educated and are more likely to come from secondary cities, in contrast to temporary migrants, who are a bit older, less educated and are more likely to come from rural areas. Employment prospects for both groups are very limited the moment they leave the country, with employment rates around 25 percent. They tend to migrate largely to the Russian Federation, where they are hired almost exclusively by firms in the private sector. Temporary workers overwhelming work in the construction sector, while permanent workers show more diversity in sectors of employment.
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The paper focuses on the interrupted careers in four countries where pensions are based on lifetime labor income, but they have different labor market patterns.
... See More + High levels of employment in Germany and Sweden are in contrast with low levels of employment, particularly for women, in Italy and Poland. Career interruptions of women in Italy mean early withdrawal from the labor market, while in Sweden women choose part-time employment. Lower employment rates and gender pay gaps are important causes of differences in expected pension levels. The pension system design and demographics are also different. Prolonging working lives and reducing gender gaps in employment and pay, particularly for those at risk of interrupted careers, is key to ensure decent old-age pensions
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Working Paper (Numbered Series) 136869 APR 01, 2019
This paper presents a new dataset of comparable employment indicators for South Asian countries, constructed from more than 60 primary data sources from 2001 to 2017.
... See More + The main contribution of the paper is to curate the information provided by individual respondents to censuses and surveys, in a way that is consistent across countries and over time. The usefulness of the dataset is illustrated by conducting a rigorous assessment of employment characteristics, of changes in employment over time, and of the short- and long-run relationship between economic growth and employment growth in South Asia. The exercise shows that agriculture still employs the majority of the working-age population across the region and, except in Sri Lanka, more than half of the employment is self-employment or unpaid family work. The paper also shows that employment rates are generally decreasing in South Asia, and that in some countries female employment rates are falling rapidly. Seasonal growth patterns are shown to affect the composition of employment, while non-seasonal changes in short-run growth affect the overall level of employment. The paper estimates that, in the long run, one percentage point growth of gross domestic product has led on average to a 0.34 percent increase in employment.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS8779 MAR 13, 2019
Beyer,Robert Carl Michael; Chocce Falla,Milagros Alejandra; Rama,Martin G.Disclosed
