Other Poverty Study
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Publication
Macro Poverty Outlook for Brazil: October 2021
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2021-10)After contracting 4.1 percent in 2020, economic activity in Brazil increased substantially in 2021. Vaccination has accelerated, and the adult population is likely to be covered in late 2021. A sluggish labor market rebound, coupled with high unemployment and low participation rates will likely increase poverty in 2021. Raising fiscal concerns contribute to increasing long-term yields, while the tightening of monetary policy to contain the rampant inflation may undermine growth in 2022. -
Publication
Monitoring COVID-19 Impact on Households in Zimbabwe, Report No. 1: Results from a High-Frequency Telephone Survey of Households
(World Bank, Harare, 2020-11-19)The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic created an urgent need for timely information to help monitor and mitigate the social and economic impacts of the crisis. This information is essential to inform policy measures for protecting the welfare of Zimbabweans. Responding to this need, the Zimbabwe Statistical Agency (ZIMSTAT), together with the World Bank and UNICEF, designed a high-frequency telephone survey of households to measure the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 in Zimbabwe. The survey builds on the Poverty, Income, Consumption and Expenditure Surveys (PICES) of 2017 and 2019 and uses a sample of 1747 households from all ten provinces of Zimbabwe. The sample is representative for urban as well as rural areas. This survey is referred to as the Rapid PICES Monitoring Telephone Survey and is funded by the Zimbabwe Reconstruction Fund (ZIMREF), and implemented by ZIMSTAT with technical support from the World Bank and UNICEF. This brief report summarizes the results of the first round of the Rapid PICES, conducted between 6th and 24th July, 2020. The telephone interview lasted for 25 minutes on average and covered topics such as knowledge of COVID and mitigation measures, access to and participation in educational activities during school closures, access to basic necessities, employment dynamics, income losses, food security and assistance received. The plan is to repeat the interviews every 4-6 weeks. Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) was used for data collection. -
Publication
Transitioning to Better Jobs in the Kyrgyz Republic: A jobs Diagnostic
(Washington, DC, 2015-09-18)This report takes an in-depth look at the development of jobs in the Kyrgyz Republic over the past decade to understand why the country has not realized better job outcomes. Drawing on evidence at the macro, household, and firm level, it examines key shortcomings in the current migration-led, remittance-driven development model that have weakened the country’s ability to create sufficient and high-quality employment opportunities and are likely to result in deteriorating job outcomes in the future. The report argues that several broad transformations will be needed to develop engines of growth in the Kyrgyz Republic outside remittances and shift to a better jobs path. The distortions and obstacles that currently prevent the expansion of private sector employment need to be unraveled; macroeconomic, regulatory, and logistical impediments to greater, more diversified export orientation need to be strategically addressed; the compensation of public employees must be reformed to reduce the level of corruption that discourages business growth; and the migration phenomenon, which will be a part of the employment mosaic for at least another decade, must be made to contribute to domestic employment creation and the country’s development. -
Publication
Rwanda Employment and Jobs Study
(Washington, DC, 2015-06)Fast growth in Rwanda since the turn of the century has been accompanied by solid poverty reduction. Between 2000 and 2013, gross domestic product (GDP) grew at eight percent per year, resulting in a 170 percent increase in real GDP. As the poor almost uniquely depend on labor to generate income, the strong reduction in poverty suggests tangible improvements in employment outcomes over this period. This jobs and employment study focuses on the recent dynamics in Rwanda’s jobs’ landscape. Using data from a variety of sources, mainly the three integrated households living conditions surveys (EICV1, EICV2, and EICV3) and the 2011 establishment census, the report looks at what workers in Rwanda are doing and what they are making, and how this has changed over the past ten to fifteen years. Most of the report focuses on the five years between 2006 and 2011, although at times, the authors will also look at the evolution since 2001. The report concludes with a number of ideas to address Rwanda’s jobs challenge in the near future. -
Publication
Poverty and Shared Prosperity in Russia: Deconstructing Russia’s Shared Prosperity Success -- The Role of Labor and Non-Labor Income
(Washington, DC, 2015-05)The Russian Federation has sustained significant growth over the past decade, accompanied by high rates of income mobility for all groups in the population. The positive outcomes in economic growth were accompanied by economic mobility for most households, reflected in substantial poverty reduction. Inclusive growth has led to a positive performance of the country in terms of shared prosperity - measured by the income and consumption growth of the bottom 40 percent of the welfare distribution. Notwithstanding the positive performance observed, the recent trends suggest sustainability concerns. Alongside the inclusive economic growth, economic mobility has improved remarkably in the country as reflected by the growth of the middle class. Upward economic mobility in Russia appears to be the result of both increases in average income levels and changes in the distribution of income. Given the positive outcomes observed, the question is, to what extent is Russia’s favorable performance in terms of shared prosperity sustainable? To this end, this note explores the main drivers behind the progress to date. The evolutions of the labor market, on one hand, and the incidence of the fiscal system, on the other, appear as the two main factors driving the observed poverty reduction, increase in the income of the bottom 40, and growth of the middle class in Russia. The note is structured as follows: section one gives introduction. Section two presents an analysis of labor income, including an overview of market dynamics and the reduction of wage inequality in the country. Section three presents a summary of the lessons derived from the analysis that can inform policy dialogue and contribute to ensuring the sustainability of the progress achieved in shared prosperity going forward. -
Publication
Braving the Storm: Poverty and Inequality in Bosnia and Herzegovina 2007-2011
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-05)This note describes the trends in, and composition of, absolute poverty based on household expenditures, and is thus concerned, as a matter of policy objectives, with access of the population to a particular minimum standard of living. This should be viewed as complementary to the companion note on social exclusion based on Europe 2020 indicators including the relative at-risk-of-poverty (AROP) rate, focuses on low income in relation to other residents in a given country. In addition to the analysis of absolute poverty, the note also presents an analysis of inclusive growth, aimed at assessing whether income growth (losses) benefit (impact) differentially the lowest part (here, bottom forty percent) of the distribution. Other approaches, such as those including measures of poverty based on current income, or self-reported measures of affordability, or approached that differ in the way they set the poverty threshold exist. The choice of World Bank’s methodology for purposes of this report is primarily on pragmatic grounds: (i) it allows for the analysis of trends during 2007-2011; (ii) the same methodology was adopted in the previous report (World Bank 2009) to analyze poverty trends during 2004-2007, thus providing a longer trend; (iii) it allows for comparisons of trends across the entities of BiH. -
Publication
FYR of Macedonia: Measuring Welfare using the Survey of Income and Living Conditions
(Washington, DC, 2015-05)This note expands the analysis on poverty and income distribution reported by the FYR Macedonia SSO for 2010 and 2011. The present work is based on an analysis performed in-situ by World Bank staff on the offices of the FYR Macedonian SSO. -
Publication
An Update on Poverty and Inequality in Albania: Nine Stylized Facts
(Washington, DC, 2015-05)This note presents 9 stylized facts that emerge related to the evolution of poverty and inequality over the 2002 to 2012 period, especially from 2008 to 2012, as well as some insights into the drivers of poverty changes. It complements existing work on monitoring and understanding shared prosperity – the second corporate goal of the World Bank along with reducing poverty - in Albania and the Western Balkans. Albania poverty estimates are based on the Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS). The LSMS is conducted by the Albania Statistics Office (INSTAT) with donor funding and has been carried out in 2002, 2005, 2008 and recently in 2012. -
Publication
Transitioning from Status to Needs Based Assistance for Georgia IDPs: A Poverty and Social Impact Analysis
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-02)This report presents to the Government of Georgia (GoG) an analysis of the implications of potential policy changes to internally displaced person (IDP) assistance. A pressing question for policy makers in Georgia is the sustainability of status-based IDP assistance and what efforts can be made to tailor this assistance to favor the poor and vulnerable. Elimination of the IDP benefit has been subject to debate among policymakers. The World Bank has worked with the government to support improvements to the socioeconomic situation of IDPs in Georgia since 2008. The IDP Community Development Project, implemented between 2009-2012 improved service delivery, infrastructure, and livelihoods in over 40 IDP communities. Evidence on the socio-economic needs of IDPs has been collected by both government and donors; yet no comprehensive research has been conducted to critically compare their situation to that of the overall population. The objective of this research is to generate more evidence on the significance of the IDP benefit, and consequences that may be expected if this benefit is removed, in order to inform future policy decisions of the GoG in this regard. The report examines: (i) the policy and institutional framework and considerations that may support or obstruct a shift in IDP assistance; (ii) quantitative evidence on the socio-economic situation of IDPs as compared to non-IDPs in Georgia; and (iii) qualitative evidence on the significance of the IDP benefit, attitudes towards the benefit program, and vulnerabilities that may arise from its potential elimination. The paper concludes with policy recommendations for mitigating negative poverty and social impacts, should the government pursue a decision to remove the IDP benefit program. -
Publication
More Jobs, Better Jobs : A Priority for Egypt
(Washington, DC, 2014-06)Much of the current debate around the recent economic crisis in the Arab Republic of Egypt has focused on unemployment. Although unemployment is an important marker of labor market health, the jobs problem in Egypt precedes the recent crisis and is manifested markedly in other labor market metrics. Indeed, the link between growth and unemployment in Egypt is weak, particularly for men. This chapter argues that the reason for this weak link is partly related to decades of flawed industrial policies that have discouraged investment in employment-generating activities. Industrial policies, including those implemented in the mid-2000s, were never focused on mitigating market failures to promote the emergence of fast-growing, high-productivity firms. Instead, they have worked to preserve insider privileges, leading to growth in sectors that are not labor intensive. Policy makers therefore need to look beyond supply-side focused labor market policies to accelerate employment growth.