Perceptions of Good Jobs : Analytical Report--Port Loko and Freetown, Sierra Leone

This study shows how jobs are perceived in Sierra Leone by exploring beyond earnings, health benefits, and pension plans that characterize a “good job” to focus on the features that increase living standards, productivity growth, and social cohesion. Since the civil war (1991–2002), Sierra Leone has...

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Main Authors:	Hatløy, Anne, Kebede, Tewodros, Zhang, Huafeng, Bjørkhaug, Ingunn
Format:	Working Paper
Language:	en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2013
Subjects:	Labor Poverty Reduction Health Nutrition Population
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/12128

id	okr-10986-12128
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-121282021-04-23T14:02:59Z Perceptions of Good Jobs : Analytical Report--Port Loko and Freetown, Sierra Leone Hatløy, Anne Kebede, Tewodros Zhang, Huafeng Bjørkhaug, Ingunn Labor Poverty Reduction Health Nutrition Population This study shows how jobs are perceived in Sierra Leone by exploring beyond earnings, health benefits, and pension plans that characterize a “good job” to focus on the features that increase living standards, productivity growth, and social cohesion. Since the civil war (1991–2002), Sierra Leone has struggled to achieve economic growth. Men are more likely to participate in the labor force than women, middle-aged people work more than the younger and older, and prolonged health problems hinder employment. Urban households containing wage workers or individuals with a mix of employment are better off than households with only self-employed members. While the relationship between wealth and employment is unclear in rural areas, where most households do farming mixed with some self-employment, only wage workers have any benefits. Assessments of job satisfaction show meaningfulness of a job determines the level of satisfaction, with middle-aged workers more satisfied than younger and older, and wealthier people more satisfied than less wealthy. Jobs consist mainly of manual tasks—dominated by routine work with a relatively high level of autonomy—and a “good,” more meaningful job requires a shift from manual toward more cognitive work, from routine toward more creative tasks, while maintaining autonomy. Wage-workers display significantly higher trust toward people than exhibited by both self-employed and farmers,showing wage employment contributes to social cohesion. 2013-01-16T20:49:30Z 2013-01-16T20:49:30Z 2012-10 978-82-7422-879-5 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/12128 en_US Background Paper for the World Development Report 2013; CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Working Paper Publications & Research Africa Sierra Leone
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	en_US
topic	Labor Poverty Reduction Health Nutrition Population
spellingShingle	Labor Poverty Reduction Health Nutrition Population Hatløy, Anne Kebede, Tewodros Zhang, Huafeng Bjørkhaug, Ingunn Perceptions of Good Jobs : Analytical Report--Port Loko and Freetown, Sierra Leone
geographic_facet	Africa Sierra Leone
relation	Background Paper for the World Development Report 2013;
description	This study shows how jobs are perceived in Sierra Leone by exploring beyond earnings, health benefits, and pension plans that characterize a “good job” to focus on the features that increase living standards, productivity growth, and social cohesion. Since the civil war (1991–2002), Sierra Leone has struggled to achieve economic growth. Men are more likely to participate in the labor force than women, middle-aged people work more than the younger and older, and prolonged health problems hinder employment. Urban households containing wage workers or individuals with a mix of employment are better off than households with only self-employed members. While the relationship between wealth and employment is unclear in rural areas, where most households do farming mixed with some self-employment, only wage workers have any benefits. Assessments of job satisfaction show meaningfulness of a job determines the level of satisfaction, with middle-aged workers more satisfied than younger and older, and wealthier people more satisfied than less wealthy. Jobs consist mainly of manual tasks—dominated by routine work with a relatively high level of autonomy—and a “good,” more meaningful job requires a shift from manual toward more cognitive work, from routine toward more creative tasks, while maintaining autonomy. Wage-workers display significantly higher trust toward people than exhibited by both self-employed and farmers,showing wage employment contributes to social cohesion.
format	Publications & Research :: Working Paper
author	Hatløy, Anne Kebede, Tewodros Zhang, Huafeng Bjørkhaug, Ingunn
author_facet	Hatløy, Anne Kebede, Tewodros Zhang, Huafeng Bjørkhaug, Ingunn
author_sort	Hatløy, Anne
title	Perceptions of Good Jobs : Analytical Report--Port Loko and Freetown, Sierra Leone
title_short	Perceptions of Good Jobs : Analytical Report--Port Loko and Freetown, Sierra Leone
title_full	Perceptions of Good Jobs : Analytical Report--Port Loko and Freetown, Sierra Leone
title_fullStr	Perceptions of Good Jobs : Analytical Report--Port Loko and Freetown, Sierra Leone
title_full_unstemmed	Perceptions of Good Jobs : Analytical Report--Port Loko and Freetown, Sierra Leone
title_sort	perceptions of good jobs : analytical report--port loko and freetown, sierra leone
publisher	World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate	2013
url	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/12128
_version_	1764419129768411136

Perceptions of Good Jobs : Analytical Report--Port Loko and Freetown, Sierra Leone

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