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Inequalities in Job Loss and Income Loss in Sub-Saharan Africa during the COVID-19 Crisis

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Listed:
  • Contreras-Gonzalez, Ivette

    (World Bank)

  • Oseni, Gbemisola

    (World Bank)

  • Palacios-Lopez, Amparo

    (World Bank)

  • Pieters, Janneke

    (Wageningen University)

  • Weber, Michael

    (World Bank)

Abstract

We use high frequency phone survey data from Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, and Uganda to analyze the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on work (including wage employment, self-employment, and farm work) and income, as well as heterogeneity by gender, family composition, education, age, pre-COVID-19 industry of work, and between the rural and urban sector. We link phone survey data collected throughout the pandemic to pre-COVID-19 face-to-face survey data in order to track the employment of respondents who were working before the pandemic and analyze individual level indicators of job loss and re-employment. Finally, we analyze both immediate impacts, during the first few months of the pandemic, as well as longer-run impacts up to February/March 2021. We find that in the early phase of the pandemic, women, young, and urban workers were significantly more likely to lose their job. A year after the onset of the pandemic, these inequalities disappeared while education became the main predictor of joblessness. We find significant rural/urban, age, and education gradients in household level income loss. Households with income from non-farm enterprises were most likely to report income loss, in the short run as well as the longer run.

Suggested Citation

  • Contreras-Gonzalez, Ivette & Oseni, Gbemisola & Palacios-Lopez, Amparo & Pieters, Janneke & Weber, Michael, 2022. "Inequalities in Job Loss and Income Loss in Sub-Saharan Africa during the COVID-19 Crisis," IZA Discussion Papers 15406, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15406
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. John C. Anyanwu & Adeleke O. Salami, 2021. "The impact of COVID‐19 on African economies: An introduction," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 33(S1), pages 1-16, April.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; employment; income; inequality; Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General
    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

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