The Egyptian Labor Market: A Focus on Gender and Economic Vulnerability

• An up-to-date analysis of the Egyptian labor market, using new data from a period of substantial political and economic change
• A unique insight into how the labor market is interacting with gender and other forms of inequity
• Reveals the enduring features of Egypt's labor market, economy, and society over two decades as well as new developments in response to new challenges

Description

The Egyptian economy has faced many challenges in the decade since the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. Not only was job creation anaemic from 2012 to 2018, but new jobs were also of low-quality, characterized by informality and vulnerability to economic shocks. These challenges pushed many in Egypt, especially the most vulnerable, into a more precarious labor market situation. Then, in the midst of economic recovery brought on by tough reform measures adopted in 2016 and 2017, the country was hit by the widespread disruption of a global pandemic. This book examines the plight of Egypt's most vulnerable groups by focusing on the intersection of gender and economic vulnerability in the labor market. With this emphasis on vulnerability and a lens that is sensitive to gender differences and inequities, the contributors to this volume use data from the most recent wave of a unique longitudinal survey to illuminate different aspects of Egyptians' lives. The aspects they explore include labor supply behavior, the ability to access good quality and well-paying jobs, the evolution of wages and wage inequality, the school-to-work transition of youth, the decline in public sector employment, international and internal migration, the situation of rural women, access to social protection, food security, vulnerability to shocks and coping mechanisms, health status, and access to health care services. These analyses are prescient in understanding the axes of vulnerability in Egyptian society that became all too salient during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Table of Contents

• Foreword, Ibrahim Elbadawi
• Introduction, Caroline Krafft and Ragui Assaad

1. The Evolution of Labor Supply in Egypt from 1988-2018: A Gendered Analysis, Caroline Krafft, Ragui Assaad, and Caitlyn Keo
2. Is the Egyptian Economy Creating Good Jobs? Job Creation and Economic Vulnerability from 1998 to 2018, Ragui Assaad, Abdelaziz AlSharawy, and Colette Salemi
3. Evolution of Wages, Inequality, and Social Mobility in Egypt, Mona Said, Rami Galal, and Mina Sami
4. The School-to-Work Transition and Youth Economic Vulnerability in Egypt, Mona Amer and Marian Atallah
5. Still the Employer of Choice: Evolution of Public Sector Employment in Egypt, Ghada Barsoum and Dina Abdalla
6. Trends and Patterns of Women's Entrepreneurship in Egypt, Reham Rizk and Ali Rashed
7. Internal versus International Migration in Egypt: Together or Far Apart, Anda David, Nelly El-Mallakh, and Jackline Wahba
8. Rural Women in Egypt: Opportunities and Vulnerabilities, Caitlyn Keo, Caroline Krafft, and Luca Fedi
9. Social Protection and Vulnerability in Egypt: A Gendered Analysis, Irene Selwaness and Maye Ehab
10. Household Vulnerability and Resilience to Shocks in Egypt, Imane Helmy and Rania Roushdy
11. Associations between Economic Vulnerability and Health and Wellbeing in Egypt, Maia Sieverding and Rasha Hassan
12. Epilogue

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