Vulnerable employment in sub-Saharan Africa

What is it about?

Vulnerable employment is simply defined as the part of total employment that is either self‐employed or workers contributing to a family business. This category of employment is thought to represent “bad quality” jobs with low social security, lower wages, and higher informality. Our study assesses the effects of rurality, sectoral orientation, demography, and the quality of economic and political institutions on vulnerable employment in sub-Saharan Africa.

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Photo by Clive Surreal on Unsplash

Photo by Clive Surreal on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Among the countries in the region, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Guinea, and Mali have world‐high rates between 90% and 95%. Thus, vulnerable employment can be seen as an indicator of long‐term employment quality, especially for developing economies. Our study shows the empirical evidence for some fundamental and secondary sources of vulnerable employment. For the solution of the problem, we highlighted inclusive growth argument and proposed several practical policy applications.