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Copyright of African Journal of Reproductive Health is the property of Women's Health & Action Research Centre and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

There are a dearth of studies that directly focus on women engaged in vulnerable employment in developing countries. Our study empirically investigates the factors that determine the large share of contributing family workers in the total employment of women in Pakistan in order to underscore the severity of vulnerable employment among women. The study utilizes the logit model for the primary empirical analysis and employs the recent and previously unexplored Pakistan Labor Force Surveys of 2014-15 and 2018-19 to conduct the econometric analysis. To explore the factors associated with women's vulnerable employment in Pakistan, our study segregates the employment statuses into vulnerable and non-vulnerable employment. The unpaid/contributing family workers are used as a proxy for vulnerable employment, whereas women working as paid employees are used as a proxy for non-vulnerable employment. The empirical findings reveal that predominantly girls aged 10 to 14 are engaged as unpaid or contributing family workers. Additionally, large household size is found to increase the likelihood of women working as contributing family workers, whereas a woman's migration status reduces this likelihood. Women's education is found to be a significant factor in helping to secure decent employment. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first attempt to empirically highlight this issue at the policy level for Pakistan, using the latest survey data. To gain policy insights, our findings can be generalized to any developing country where a large percentage of women are engaged as contributing family workers. To steer the women who are contributing family workers away from vulnerable employment, our study proposes that it is essential to invest in women's education, as well as to initiate skill development programs to reap community-wide benefits from women's employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigating the impacts of globalization on vulnerable employment with a focus on sub‐Saharan African (SSA) women's job experience is in line with efforts towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 8. We examined the impacts of social, economic, and political globalization, as well as de facto and de jure conditions, in explaining the proportion of women working in vulnerable jobs in SSA. Using the instrumental variable generalized method of moment approach with panel data from 37 SSA countries for the period 2000–2016, we found de facto/de jure globalization conditions to have positive/negative impacts on the proportion of women in vulnerable employment in SSA. Furthermore, estimates from disaggregated globalization indices indicate that both economic de facto and social de facto globalization conditions had negative impacts whereas political globalization had positive impacts on our subject matter. Developing inclusive socioeconomic policies that promote women's welfare in SSA would therefore necessitate political reforms as well as policies that support improvements in women's economic and social conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the development of vulnerable employment in 43 sub‐Saharan African countries by using yearly data for 1996–2018 period. The paper first outlines the main factors and discusses the issue from the perspective of developing countries, and then constructs a panel data elasticity model. The model expands the economic growth framework further and assesses the effects of rurality, sectoral composition, demography, and the quality of economic and political institutions. Prais–Winsten robust estimation results for the expanded model show nonindustrial employment to be the main source of vulnerable employment. Additionally, the increase in urban population share is found to have a positive impact, while nonemployed population is negatively associated. The results also show that upper‐middle income countries differ from low and lower‐middle income groups with regard to the significance of economic and political institutions. These findings clarify the prominence of the Sustainable Development Goals policy agenda and gradual reform strategies beginning with economic quality toward improvement of political institutions. At the end, we highlight several policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why is there a significant gender gap in the global labor force participation? Is there a way to reduce vulnerable employment? May cultural values explain the gender gap in employment and male-dominant work structure? This research examined the associations between Hofstede’s culture dimensions (including power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation) and gender gap in employment indicators (women’s and men’s labor force participation and vulnerable employment rates) after controlling the economy. Secondary data were obtained from Hofstede’s culture dimensions and World Bank databases. When the countries with missing data are excluded, remaining data of 60 countries make up the data set of the study. Two-step hierarchical regression analyses were performed, in which economic development was entered in the first step and study variables were included in the model in the second step. The main results indicated that after controlling economic development, women’s labor force participation rate was negatively related to country scores on uncertainty avoidance. In contrast, men’s labor force participation rate was negatively associated with country scores on power distance, individualism, and uncertainty avoidance. Besides, both women’s and men’s vulnerable employment rates were negatively related to country scores on individualism. The fact that more women and men participate in the labor force in countries with low power distance and uncertainty avoidance can be interpreted as women’s labor force participation creates new job opportunities that both women and men benefit from. The results may be useful for researchers who aim to see the current gender-based labor force participation patterns in different countries and understand the culture dynamics of economic gender gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aims to identify the phenomenon of employment at risk in the United States, and identify the most important factors in this phenomenon that would increase or reduce the severity of this phenomenon in the United States. Study the standard approach adopted in measuring the effect of some variables and economic factors on phenomenon of employment at risk in the United States, so as to reach the most important causes of employment at risk. The study concluded results: affects both (fixed capital formation, exports of goods and services, foreign direct investment) negatively on employment at risk, while both of (inflation, overpopulation) positive shape affect employment at risk. The study recommends that the following recommendations: the stakeholders provided an opportunity for domestic and foreign investment to expand its points and that will increase the demand for labour and a reduction in the rate of employment at risk, financial institutions, and State institutions to support small projects and provide various Facilities that will enhance their productivity and ensure their continuity, and this works to reduce risks to employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work assesses quantitatively the determinants of two of the main indicators of financial inclusion: savings account ownership and credit access. Through the use of a dynamic panel, this work verifies that on the supply side, formal saving requires an infrastructure to access these services, as well as palliatives to the asymmetric information in the financial sector, while on the demand side, the education and the stability of income sources of its potential users are crucial. In order to move to a more comprehensive financial inclusion by taking a formal loan, even though access to this infrastructure is still relevant, its effect is decreasing. Therefore the national educational level and Credit Information Societies acquire relevance, as well as the employment vulnerability, which affects eligibility and the commitment that indebtedness entails. The significance of certain cultural traits in the credit static panel warns that, although financial inclusion can be promoted through standards vetted internationally, its effectiveness cannot be separated from the social context where they are implemented.

This paper focuses on whether the effects of sustainable challenges in terms of economic prosperity through GDP per capita and vulnerable employment have significant influence on the variation of net migration rate in five Western Balkan Countries and Turkey. Results from the panel PMG ARDL model showed that only the coefficient of vulnerable employment has statistically significant negative long-run effect on NMR variation. The short-run relationship indicates on significant individual effects over the NMR across all countries in the coming years. Also, research results confirm the causal link between the sustainable development variables and NMR variation for all these countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is the first to estimate the size of the informal tourism economy. Using a dynamic general equilibrium model, this paper first estimates the size of the informal tourism economy and then assesses its linkages to key labour market variables in Thailand. Empirical results indicate that: (a) the informal tourism economy grows faster than the formal tourism and aggregate economy; (b) both formal and informal tourism economies absorb the unemployed; (c) the relationship between formal and informal economies is negative in the aggregate but positive in the tourism sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper estimates the scale of the possible impact of the coronavirus epidemic on the Russian labor market and household incomes. We consider vulnerable employment, which includes workers with increased risks of job loss, wage cuts and other negative events that reduce labor incomes. The analysis shows that every second Russian worker can be classified as vulnerable employee. The highest risks for reducing labor incomes as a result of the epidemic are faced by young people, workers with a low level of education, as well as residents of regional centers. About a third of vulnerable employees experience complex vulnerability, i.e. meet several criteria of vulnerability. A decrease in labor incomes could also affect the wealth of about 40% of Russian households. The worst situation is for younger families, whose incomes are much more dependent on the labor market. Most of the households in which vulnerable workers live do not receive social benefits, and therefore it would be rather difficult for them to count on prompt assistance from the social protection system. Currently Russia is actively developing a set of measures to support employment. In particular, government decided to provide support for the most affected by COVID sectors, the size of unemployment benefits has been increased for citizens who have lost their jobs due to the epidemic. However, it is obvious that this list should be extended and account for various forms of deterioration of employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reproductive health and employment are inextricably linked for women. Across the globe, women are the primary caretakers of children, and a woman's reproductive years tend to overlap with her economically productive years. Planned and unplanned pregnancy and childbearing affect women's ability to pursue different types of economic opportunities and even the choice of sectors in which they seek to work. This study explores the timing and sequencing of policy to address reproductive health needs and to strengthen labor market institutions and social protection, illustrated by case studies from six developing countries – Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, South Africa, the Philippines, and Vietnam – which have similar demographic transitions but divergent labor market outcomes for women. The findings suggest that where fertility transitions have been sharpest, this has not automatically translated into more employment and better labor market outcomes for women – illuminating a critical role for policy to support women's transition into formal employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relationship between political factors, entrepreneurship, and female employment vulnerability in sub-Saharan Africa. Using data from the World Development Indicators (WDI) and World Governance Indicators (WGI) of the World Bank for the period 2001 - 2022, the study employs the Generalised Method of Moments to control for endogeneity. The results show that there exists an elastic relationship between voice and accountability and female vulnerability to employment in these sub-regions. It implies that a percentage increase in voice and accountability will result in a 11.9%, 3.07%, 1.08% decrease in female vulnerability to employment in Central, East, West and Southern Africa, respectively. These findings suggest that improving political institutions and reducing corruption could help to promote female entrepreneurship and reduce vulnerability in Sub-Saharan Africa., Competing Interests: The Authors declared no conflict of interest, (African Journal of Reproductive Health © 2023.)

This paper assesses the impacts on private sector poverty of changes in the within inequalities of expenditure and income sources. This paper employs the most recent Cameroon Household Consumption Survey which provides the necessary data for our analyses. Our results showed that the largest impact on poverty is registered with increasing food inequalities and the smallest with increasing health inequalities. Concerning regressed income sources, we found that the highest increase in poverty incidence is recorded by increasing inequalities in human capital. Our results also underlined that if we only have a small proportion of private sector workers who are vulnerable in employment, poverty depth will reduce appreciably. Importantly, we observed that the marginal poverty impacts and elasticities of within-component inequalities are sensitive in magnitude to the choice of poverty aversion measures and poverty lines. The government of Cameroon should invest in a system of education that reduces the number of dropouts at primary and secondary levels; this should be probably a system of education that meets the demands of the labour market. If policy provisions allow for only a small proportion of private sector workers to be vulnerable in employment, poverty depth will reduce considerably. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many urban residents have recently lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has made employment vulnerability in cities attained attention. It is thus important to explore the relationship between urbanization and employment. This study quantitatively analyzes spatiotemporal evolution and data correlation of urbanization and vulnerable employment, and explores the role urbanization plays in vulnerable employment by using historical data on 163 countries in the period 1991–2019 to test the theoretical hypothesis. The results show: It's clearly observed that there is a high correlation between the rate of urbanization and that of vulnerable employment, and the examples of G7 and BRICs are for it. The estimated urbanization yields a negative and statistically significant regression coefficient (−0.168), indicating that urbanization has a negative effect on vulnerable employment. If the urbanization rate increased by 1 %, the rate of vulnerable employment decreased by 0.168 %. The rural–urban sector conversion and changes in employment relationship driven by urbanization account for this. Countries with different income groups or populations have reacted differently to the rise in urbanization. Vulnerable employment in higher-income countries has been more significantly affected by the rise in urbanization, and more populous countries are more sensitive to it as well. These findings provide evidence for how urbanization promotes employment and decent work. • A theoretical framework identifying what the relationship of urbanization and vulnerable employment is. • A high correlation between urbanization and vulnerable employment is well presented in data correlation. • Empirical evidence on the role urbanization plays in vulnerable employment and the negative relationship confirmed. • Fine distinctions in urbanization effects on vulnerable employment affected by wealth level and labor supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social impacts of products and service life cycles are increasingly of interest among policy makers and stakeholders. Workers' issues are considered to be a source of key inventory data to assess social impacts, and are crucial in moving towards social sustainability. There is a need to develop a social inventory database for evaluating social impacts of products and services. This study aimed at the development of a social intensity dataset using an input-output analysis framework. The 2005 Asian International input-output table is used in this work. Six social issues are considered: total employment, paid workers, vulnerable employment, wages, fatal, and non-fatal occupational injuries. To verify the acceptability of this study, an estimation of total social footprint deduced from final consumption rates was carried out. The social intensities associated with 10 countries and 76 economic sectors were constructed. The results show that the social intensities from cradle to gate the agricultural sector has the highest in terms of total employment and vulnerable employment. Meanwhile, the mining sector in China has a higher non-fatal and fatal occupational injuries than the agriculture sector, secondary sector, and tertiary sector. The public administration sector and the education and research sector had a higher wages intensity than any other sectors due to these sectors being labor intensive and having higher wages. The social intensity in terms of total employment, paid workers, vulnerable employment, non-fatal injuries, and fatal accident cases in the developing countries was higher than the developed countries whereas wages intensity in developing countries was lower than that of developed countries. The social footprints resulting from the final consumption of each country show that the social footprints had transferred from the developing countries to the developed countries. Exports from China to the USA, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore have a significant social impact in these countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Conditional on individual and household characteristics, women are 7 percentage points more likely to be in vulnerable employment than men. • Across developing countries, the gender gap is smaller in richer countries, with lower fertility rates, and more gender-egalitarian laws. • At the micro-level, the experiences of marriage and parenthood are important drivers of the gender gap. • Current levels of the gender gap in vulnerable employment are almost entirely unexplained by standard labour supply factors. This paper investigates gender inequality in vulnerable employment: forms of employment typically featuring high precariousness, inadequate earnings, and lack of decent working conditions. Using a large collection of harmonized household surveys from developing countries, we measure long-term trends, describe geographical patterns, and estimate correlates of gender inequalities in vulnerable employment. Conditional on individual and household characteristics, women are 7 percentage points more likely to be in vulnerable employment than men. The experiences of marriage and parenthood are important drivers of this gender gap. Across countries, the gender gap is smaller in richer countries, with lower fertility rates, and more gender-egalitarian laws, particularly those laws regulating marriage, parenthood, access to assets, and access to entrepreneurship. Since the 1990s, rising levels of female education and rapidly falling fertility have pulled women away from vulnerable employment at a faster rate than men. However, that process is largely exhausted, with current levels of the gender gap in vulnerable employment being almost entirely unexplained by standard labour supply factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to understanding the relationship between ICT deployment and poverty alleviation in developing countries. It assess the digital technologies contribution to poverty reduction, through different channels of impact, like education, labor market, income and ICT-trade related activities. Using the sample of 40 developing countries between 1990 and 2019, it relies on macro data extracted from the World Bank Development Indicators (2021) and the World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database (2020). Methodological framework combines time trend analysis and locally weighted polynomial smoother, logistic growth model, and panel regression modelling techniques. Our major findings suggest growing ICT deployment, school enrolments, and increases in material wealth are significant drivers of poverty eradication in developing economies. However, the impact of digitalization on poverty is neither direct nor immediate. Therefore, we claim that national and local authorities, together with civil society must consider ICT as a key element of their broad development strategies. • It examines the impact of ICT on poverty reduction. • In shows the evidence for 40 low-income and lower-middle income economies. • It determines that ICT impacts poverty reduction, through income and education shift, and reducing labor market vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Escriure és un procés; l'acte de transformar pensament en lletra impresa implica una seqüència no lineal d'etapes o actes creatius" (diu James B. Gray, citat a Cassany, 1993). Jo afegiria que és també un acte de transformació de vivències. Això és el que trobareu en aquestes línies, el relat d'un procés personal de transformació de vivències i pensaments de la precarietat, un procés lent, obert, recursiu i molt costós. La primera fase d'elaboració, la part acadèmica, va fluir sense gaires dificultats. L'encàrrec, però, anava més enllà. Incloure l'autoetnografia fou el més dificultós. Primer pel que té de reflexió personal, després per la certesa d'anar despullant-se, deixant una mica d'una segons avança l'article. Entrecreuar els dos texts amb suficient agilitat i elegància per a que el resultat sigui un text reeixit i agradable a la lectura ha estat el segon dels objectius.

Approaches to economic development have overemphasized negative economic freedom for multinational corporations at the expense of a majority of the population in developing countries. An inevitable outcome has been the growth of informal sector and "vulnerable" employment in developing countries and entrenchment of existing inequalities. We argue that rather than an emphasis on negative freedom, an emphasis on using labor standards to facilitate positive economic freedom must occur. Labor standards do this not only through the "core" rights of union membership and collective bargaining, but also in addressing substantive ("non-core") rights at work (wages, working-time, etc.), thereby facilitating positive freedom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pandemic caused by COVID-19 has left millions infected and dead around the world, with Latin America being one of the most affected areas. In this work, we have sought to determine, by means of a multiple regression analysis and a study of correlations, the influence of population density, life expectancy, and proportion of the population in vulnerable employment, together with GDP per capita, on the mortality rate due to COVID-19 in Latin American countries. The results indicated that countries with higher population density had lower numbers of deaths. Population in vulnerable employment and GDP showed a positive influence, while life expectancy did not appear to significantly affect the number of COVID-19 deaths. In addition, the influence of these variables on the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 was analyzed. It can be concluded that the lack of resources can be a major burden for the vulnerable population in combating COVID-19 and that population density can ensure better designed institutions and quality infrastructure to achieve social distancing and, together with effective measures, lower death rates.