Labor Market Policies under a Youth Bulge : How to Benefit from Demographic Dividend in Pakistan
This paper assesses labor market trends and outcomes in Pakistan over the past decade. It shows that despite a high rate of employment growth, labor market outcomes have been disappointing: most jobs have been created in low productivity sectors/ac...
Main Authors: | , |
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Format: | Working Paper |
Language: | English en_US |
Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/12/19309514/labor-market-policies-under-youth-bulge http://hdl.handle.net/10986/17874 |
Summary: | This paper assesses labor market trends
and outcomes in Pakistan over the past decade. It shows that
despite a high rate of employment growth, labor market
outcomes have been disappointing: most jobs have been
created in low productivity sectors/activities, and even if
they provide a minimum level of income to often avoid
poverty, they remain low quality jobs providing little or no
protection to workers against shocks. In addition, female
participation rates for women are very low and there are
large income disparities between rural and urban areas, and
across sectors. A fundamental part of the problem is the low
level of education of the labor force. Pakistan is currently
in the midst of a demographic transition that is bringing a
growing number of youth into the labor market. This youth
bulge that is unwinding opens both challenges and
opportunities. Challenges because of the need to create
enough jobs to employ new entrants; Opportunities, because
if this is done the country will enjoy a demographic
dividend , as the share of those employed relative to the
dependent increases, driving up income per capita and
standards of living. |
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