Working Out of Poverty

Job Creation and the Quality of Growth in Africa

Louise Fox, Melissa Sekkel Gaal

• Publisher: World Bank Publications
• Year: 2008
• eBook ISBN: 9780821374436
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Labour Economics
• Index: Economics

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' 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?

Table of contents

• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 Context: The Economic Environment for Job Creation
• Chapter 2 Constraints: Missing Private Sector Demand
• Chapter 3 Conditions: The State of the African Labor Force
• Chapter 4 Consequences: The Growth of the Informal Sector
• Chapter 5 Conclusion: The Prospects for Better Outcomes
• Appendix Measuring Labor Force Participation in Africa: A Conundrum
• References
• Index
• Box 1 Translating Common Labor Concepts to Conditions in Africa
• Box 2 Most African Countries Did not Realize High Economic Growth Rates, 1995–2006
• Box 3 Definitions and Classification of the Informal Sector
• Figure 1 Major Obstacles Facing African Firms
• Figure 2 Percentage of Children Completing Primary Education, by Gender and Household Income
• Figure 3 Women without Education: National Percentage and Gap between Rural and Urban
• Table 1 Percentage of the Population Living on Less than $1 a Day, by Region
• Table 2 Growth of the Labor Force,Wage and Salary Employment, and GDP per Capita in Selected African Countries
• Table 3 Indicators of Labor Flexibility, by Region
• Table 4 Implied Returns to Education in Selected African Countries
• Table 5 Estimated Life Expectancy at Birth in Sub-Saharan Africa and Other Regions, by Gender, 2000–05 and 2010–15
• Table 6 Informal Sector Share of Labor Force by Area
• Table 7 Labor Force by Sector and Rural vs. Urban Area, Ages 10 and Above
• Table 8 Estimated Average Annual Growth in Earnings by Sector of Employment