The Labor Market and Poverty in Sudan
Using the most recent household survey data, this paper examines the characteristics of Sudan’s labor market as it relates to poverty outcomes. Several important aspects of the labor market are analyzed, including the relationship between labor mar...
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| Format: | Policy Note |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2021
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/439111628490790397/The-Labor-Market-and-Poverty-in-Sudan http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36101 |
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okr-10986-361012021-08-12T05:10:38Z The Labor Market and Poverty in Sudan Etang Ndip, Alvin Lange, Simon LABOR MARKET POVERTY ACCESS TO EDUCTION AGRICULTURAL INVESTMENT INCENTIVES GENDER Using the most recent household survey data, this paper examines the characteristics of Sudan’s labor market as it relates to poverty outcomes. Several important aspects of the labor market are analyzed, including the relationship between labor market indicators and the demographic structure of the population, geographic location, education, and gender. It highlights the significant differences in labor market outcomes depending on the structure and distribution of the population and Sudan’s labor market’s many challenges across different dimensions, including demography, gender, and geography. The four key messages can be summarized as follows: first, Sudan is at the verge of entering the earl-dividend stage of the demographic transition. Sudan’s population, while still very young, is on track to enter into the early-dividend stage of the demographic transition within just a few years, raising the stakes for job creation and investment in human capita. Second, while we find evidence for an increase in employment and labor force participation at the national level, this increase seems to be driven by seasonal labor in agriculture and increasing economic hardship, respectively. In urban areas, however, unemployment increased sharply, especially among youth. And despite the overall increase in employment and labor force participation, Sudan’s labor market still underperforms in comparison to its peers. Third, Sudan’s labor market is characterized by large gender disparities, including in terms of employment opportunities and pay. Finally, we find no signs of the beginnings of a structural transformation over the time-period author study; agriculture remains the mainstay of a large majority of employed Sudanese. Rather, labor productivity and real wages outside of agriculture declined markedly between 2009 and 2014, especially in sectors with links to the oil economy. The paper offers policy insights to enhance the role of the labor market in reducing poverty and boosting shared prosperity in Sudan, key among which are 1) encouraging private sector growth, 2) overcoming gender discrimination in the labor market, 3) investing in agriculture and re-storing price incentives, and 4) further expanding access to quality education. 2021-08-11T15:15:09Z 2021-08-11T15:15:09Z 2019-05 Policy Note http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/439111628490790397/The-Labor-Market-and-Poverty-in-Sudan http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36101 English CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Economic & Sector Work Economic & Sector Work :: Policy Note Africa Africa Eastern and Southern (AFE) Sudan |
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Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
LABOR MARKET POVERTY ACCESS TO EDUCTION AGRICULTURAL INVESTMENT INCENTIVES GENDER |
| spellingShingle |
LABOR MARKET POVERTY ACCESS TO EDUCTION AGRICULTURAL INVESTMENT INCENTIVES GENDER Etang Ndip, Alvin Lange, Simon The Labor Market and Poverty in Sudan |
| geographic_facet |
Africa Africa Eastern and Southern (AFE) Sudan |
| description |
Using the most recent household survey
data, this paper examines the characteristics of Sudan’s
labor market as it relates to poverty outcomes. Several
important aspects of the labor market are analyzed,
including the relationship between labor market indicators
and the demographic structure of the population, geographic
location, education, and gender. It highlights the
significant differences in labor market outcomes depending
on the structure and distribution of the population and
Sudan’s labor market’s many challenges across different
dimensions, including demography, gender, and geography. The
four key messages can be summarized as follows: first, Sudan
is at the verge of entering the earl-dividend stage of the
demographic transition. Sudan’s population, while still very
young, is on track to enter into the early-dividend stage of
the demographic transition within just a few years, raising
the stakes for job creation and investment in human capita.
Second, while we find evidence for an increase in employment
and labor force participation at the national level, this
increase seems to be driven by seasonal labor in agriculture
and increasing economic hardship, respectively. In urban
areas, however, unemployment increased sharply, especially
among youth. And despite the overall increase in employment
and labor force participation, Sudan’s labor market still
underperforms in comparison to its peers. Third, Sudan’s
labor market is characterized by large gender disparities,
including in terms of employment opportunities and pay.
Finally, we find no signs of the beginnings of a structural
transformation over the time-period author study;
agriculture remains the mainstay of a large majority of
employed Sudanese. Rather, labor productivity and real wages
outside of agriculture declined markedly between 2009 and
2014, especially in sectors with links to the oil economy.
The paper offers policy insights to enhance the role of the
labor market in reducing poverty and boosting shared
prosperity in Sudan, key among which are 1) encouraging
private sector growth, 2) overcoming gender discrimination
in the labor market, 3) investing in agriculture and
re-storing price incentives, and 4) further expanding access
to quality education. |
| format |
Policy Note |
| author |
Etang Ndip, Alvin Lange, Simon |
| author_facet |
Etang Ndip, Alvin Lange, Simon |
| author_sort |
Etang Ndip, Alvin |
| title |
The Labor Market and Poverty in Sudan |
| title_short |
The Labor Market and Poverty in Sudan |
| title_full |
The Labor Market and Poverty in Sudan |
| title_fullStr |
The Labor Market and Poverty in Sudan |
| title_full_unstemmed |
The Labor Market and Poverty in Sudan |
| title_sort |
labor market and poverty in sudan |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2021 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/439111628490790397/The-Labor-Market-and-Poverty-in-Sudan http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36101 |
| _version_ |
1764484429850345472 |