Labor Market Policies under a Youth Bulge : How to Benefit from Demographic Dividend in Pakistan

Robalino, David ; Cho, Yoonyoung

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ACCOUNTING;    ACTIVE LABOR;    ACTIVE LABOR MARKET;    ACTIVE LABOR MARKET POLICIES;    ACTIVE LABOR MARKET PROGRAMS;   

RP-ID  :  86250

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper assesses labor market trendsand outcomes in Pakistan over the past decade. It shows thatdespite a high rate of employment growth, labor marketoutcomes have been disappointing: most jobs have beencreated in low productivity sectors/activities, and even ifthey provide a minimum level of income to often avoidpoverty, they remain low quality jobs providing little or noprotection to workers against shocks. In addition, femaleparticipation rates for women are very low and there arelarge income disparities between rural and urban areas, andacross sectors. A fundamental part of the problem is the lowlevel of education of the labor force. Pakistan is currentlyin the midst of a demographic transition that is bringing agrowing number of youth into the labor market. This youthbulge that is unwinding opens both challenges andopportunities. Challenges because of the need to createenough jobs to employ new entrants; Opportunities, becauseif this is done the country will enjoy ademographicdividend , as the share of those employed relative to thedependent increases, driving up income per capita andstandards of living.