Working out of poverty : job creation and the quality of growth in Africa / Louise Fox, Melissa Sekkel Gaal.

Format:

Book

Government document

Author/Creator:

Fox, M. Louise.

Contributor:

Gaal, Melissa Sekkel, 1979-

Series:

Directions in development (Washington, D.C.). Poverty

Directions in development poverty

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Job creation--Africa.

Job creation.

Labor supply--Africa.

Labor supply.

Africa.

Labor market--Africa.

Labor market.

Africa--Economic conditions.

Economic conditions.

Physical Description:

xi, 81 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : World Bank, [2008]

Summary:

Governments in Africa and their stakeholders have been disappointed with the number of wage and salary jobs that have been created over the last decade or more. Even in countries that experienced both strong economic growth and rapid poverty reduction during this period, job creation has lagged behind expectations. Faced with a rapidly growing labor force, Africa has to find new ways to create better paying jobs.

Working Out of Poverty: Job Creation and the Quality of Growth in Africa reviews the literature and presents original research by the authors analyzing job creation in Sub-Saharan Africa in light of economic performance over the decade and more since 1995. The book identifies factors that impact job creation, both inside the labor market (such as labor supply and demand) and outside of it (overall investment climate).

Working Out of Poverty focuses on the following key questions: How has the structure of economic growth and labor demand shaped the job creation process? What policies have been pursued to raise the quality of the African labor force? What does the expanding "informal" sector mean for the labor market and the quality of growth? Is it a route out of poverty or a low-skills trap?

Contents:

Chapter 1 Context: The Economic Environment for Job Creation 9

Demographics 9

Wage and Salary Employment 10

Economic Growth and Structure of GDP 11

Structural Shifts Within Wage and Salary Employment 14

Chapter 2 Constraints: Missing Private Sector Demand 17

Investment Climate 19

Wage Flexibility 21

Labor Flexibility 23

Chapter 3 Conditions: The State of the African Labor Force 29

Education 30

Health 40

Child Labor 44

Chapter 4 Consequences: The Growth of the Informal Sector 49

Chapter 5 Conclusion: The Prospects for Better Outcomes 59

Appendix Measuring Labor Force Participation in Africa: A Conundrum 63

1 Translating Common Labor Concepts to Conditions in Africa 3

2 Most African Countries Did not Realize High Economic Growth Rates, 1995-2006 13

3 Definitions and Classification of the Informal Sector 50

1 Major Obstacles Facing African Firms 20

2 Percentage of Children Completing Primary Education, by Gender and Household Income 31

3 Women without Education: National Percentage and Gap between Rural and Urban 32

1 Percentage of the Population Living on Less than $1 a Day, by Region 1

2 Growth of the Labor Force, Wage and Salary Employment, and GDP per Capita in Selected African Countries 11

3 Indicators of Labor Flexibility, by Region 24.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 69-76).

ISBN:

9780821374429

0821374427

9780821374436

0821374435

OCLC:

182573518