Towards Decent Work in Sub-Saharan Africa Monitoring MDG Employment Indicators
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Decent work – productive employment that delivers a fair Towards Decent Work income, security, freedom and dignity, social protection for families, opportunities for personal development and in sub-Saharan Africa social integration, and equality of opportunity for men and women – is a fundamental goal for all societies. It is also Monitoring MDG a central element in the fight against global poverty and hunger. In 2008, the United Nations adopted a new target Employment Indicators under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) “to Monitoring MDG Employment Indicators achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people”. This target has particular relevance for sub-Saharan Africa, where widespread poverty is inextricably entwined with a lack of decent work. Drawing on broad regional labour market analyses and country case studies, this book demonstrates how the new MDG employment indicators can be used as a ba- sis for improved labour market and poverty monitoring as well as improved employment policy development in sub-Saharan Africa. It is argued that analysis based on the MDG employment indicators provides a major building block for employment diagnostics, which in turn serves to inform growth strategies that generate more high-quality and productive jobs. Towards DecentTowards in sub-Saharan Work Africa Edited by ILO Theo Sparreboom and Alana Albee cover-633.indd 1 12.05.11 17:19 Towards Decent Work in sub-Saharan Africa Monitoring MDG Employment Indicators Edited by Theo Sparreboom and Alana Albee International Labour Office Copyright © International Labour Organization 2011 First published 2011 Publications of the International Labour Office enjoy copyright under Protocol 2 of the Universal Copyright Convention. Nevertheless, short excerpts from them may be reproduced without authorization, on condition that the source is indicated. For rights of reproduction or translation, application should be made to ILO Publications (Rights and Permissions), International Labour Office, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland, or by email: [email protected]. The International Labour Office welcomes such applications. Libraries, institutions and other users registered with reproduction rights organizations may make copies in accordance with the licences issued to them for this purpose. Visit www.ifrro.org to find the reproduction rights organization in your country. Towards decent work: monitoring millennium development goal employment indicators in sub-Saharan Africa / edited by Theo Sparreboom and Alana Albee International Labour Office. - Geneva: ILO, 2011 ISBN: 978-92-2-124942-9 (print) ISBN: 978-92-2-124943-6 (web pdf) Employment / decent work / labour productivity / poverty / poverty alleviation / employment policy / role of UN / measurement / Africa south of Sahara / Burkina Faso / Ghana / Tanzania 13.01.3 ILO Cataloguing in Publication Data The designations employed in ILO publications, which are in conformity with United Nations practice, and the presentation of material therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the International Labour Office concerning the legal status of any country, area or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. 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Catalogues or lists of new publications are available free of charge from the above address, or by email: [email protected] Visit our web site: www.ilo.org/publns Graphic design BIP Photocomposed in France CAD Printed in Switzerland ATA ii Table of contents PREFACE xi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xiii ABBREVIATIONS and ACRONYMS xv CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1 Theo Sparreboom and Alana Albee 1 1 Background 1 1 2 Millennium Development Goal employment indicators 2 1 3 Labour market information and analysis systems in sub-Saharan Africa 4 1 4 Policy development 7 1 5 Overview 8 CHAPTER 2. LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY 9 Malte Luebker 2 1 Introduction 9 2 2 Concepts and definitions 10 2 2 1 Basic definition and computation 10 2 2 2 Data sources 13 2 2 3 Rationale and interpretation 14 2 2 4 Links with other MDG indicators 17 2 3 What is driving labour productivity growth? 18 2 3 1 Micro-level analysis 18 2 3 2 Sectoral level analysis 22 2 3 3 Total economy level 27 2 4 Trends in sub-Saharan Africa 28 2 5 Conclusions 32 iii Table of contents CHAPTER 3. EMPLOYMENT-TO-POPULATION RATIO 37 Sara Elder 3 1 Introduction 37 3 1 1 Employment 39 3 1 2 Working-age population 41 3 1 3 Employment-to-population ratio 43 3 2 Trends in EPRs in sub-Saharan Africa 44 3 2 1 Regional estimates of the EPR 44 3 2 2 Country-level EPRs 46 3 2 3 EPR and other MDG1B indicators 47 3 3 What does the EPR mean in sub-Saharan Africa? 49 3 3 1 Determinants of EPRs in sub-Saharan Africa 49 3 3 2 What should the target employment-to-population ratio be in sub-Saharan Africa? 50 3 4 Conclusions 54 CHAPTER 4. VULNERABLE EMPLOYMENT 57 Theo Sparreboom 4 1 Introduction 57 4 2 Vulnerable employment and economic development 58 4 3 Trends in vulnerable employment in sub-Saharan Africa 60 4 4 Limited structural transformation 62 4 5 Vulnerable employment, dualism and decent work 67 4 6 Conclusions 71 CHAPTER 5. WORKING POVERTY 73 Steven Kapsos 5 1 Introduction 73 5 2 Methodologies for measuring working poverty in sub-Saharan Africa 75 5 2 1 The “macro”-approach 75 5 2 2 Relative advantages and drawbacks of the macro-methodology 76 iv Towards Decent Work in sub-Saharan Africa Monitoring MDG Employment Indicators 5 2 3 The “micro”-approach 77 5 2 4 Potential drawbacks of micro-based estimates 78 5 3 Trends in working poverty in sub-Saharan Africa 80 5 3 1 Macro-based regional trends 80 5 3 2 Micro-based country-level working poverty estimates 81 5 3 3 Using micro-surveys to test “macro”-methodology results 86 5 4 Conclusions 88 CHAPTER 6. UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA 91 Low labour productivity constrains poverty reduction Alana Albee 6 1 Introduction 91 6 2 High growth and persistent poverty 93 6 3 Poverty and changing consumption patterns 96 6 4 Monitoring the productive employment challenge 98 6 5 Finding solutions through applied research in growth sectors 102 6 6 Concluding remarks: Challenges in influencing national policy 103 CHAPTER 7. SOUTH AFRICA 107 Uneven progress towards the MDG employment target Sher Verick 7 1 Introduction 107 7 2 Labour market information and analysis in South Africa 109 7 3 Tracking the MDG employment indicators for South Africa 110 7 3 1 Labour productivity 111 7 3 2 Employment-to-population ratio 112 7 3 3 Working poverty 115 7 3 4 Vulnerable employment 117 7 3 5 Share of women in non-agricultural employment 120 7 4 Policy implications 121 v Table of contents CHAPTER 8. BURKINA FASO 123 Employment at the heart of the national development strategy: The role of the MDG employment indicators Eléonore D’Achon and Naima Pagès 8 1 Introduction 123 8 2 The socio-economic background 124 8 3 The MDG employment indicators among the 12 key indicators of the national employment policy 126 8 3 1 Volume and structure of employment 127 8 3 2 Underutilization of labour; labour productivity 128 8 3 3 Quality of employment 130 8 3 4 Public employment promotion efforts 133 8 3 5 Principal employment policy recommendations 134 8 4 Institutional challenges in developing LMIA 135 8 4 1 Employment: A national priority 135 8 4 2 The transition from national employment policy to action: The role of employment indicators 136 8 4 3 The institutional framework: The labour market information and analysis system in the context of the national poverty monitoring system 138 8 5 Employment at the core of the decision-making process: Challenges and perspectives 140 CHAPTER 9. GHANA 143 Economic growth and better labour market outcomes, but challenges remain Theo Sparreboom and William Baah-Boateng 9 1 Introduction 143 9 1 1 Labour market overview 144 9 2 MDG1B employment indicators 147 9 2 1 Labour productivity 147 9 2 2 Employment-to-population ratio 149 9 2 3 Vulnerable employment 151 9 2 4 Working poverty 154 9 3 Progress in achieving decent work 157 vi Towards Decent Work in sub-Saharan Africa Monitoring MDG Employment Indicators CHAPTER 10. CONCLUSIONS 159 Alana Albee, Duncan Campbell and Theo Sparreboom 10 1 Trends in sub-Saharan Africa 159 10 2 Lessons from country examples 161 10 3 Labour market issues and indicators 164 10 3 1 What would we like to know? 164 10 3 2 A good foundation for assessing the issues and their measurement 166 10 4 Policy trends and implications 168 BIBLIOGRAPHY 175 Boxes 1.1 Millennium Development Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger 3 3.1 Frequently asked questions about the measurement of employment 40 4.1 Industrialization in sub-Saharan Africa: The clothing and textile industry in Lesotho 66 5.1 Poor working children in sub-Saharan Africa 84 10.1 Stylized characteristics of economies in sub-Saharan Africa 167 Tables