Abstract: (12394 Views)
Objectives: In designing poverty alleviation strategies, it is axiomatic to identify
the poor. Insufficient or unreliable data about the deprived members of society is
a primary obstacle in designing an effective poverty reduction policy. The role of
the labour market is particularly important in providing decent jobs for every
sector of population. Studying labour market structure enables policymakers to
configure more effective targeting policies and social safety nets. Hence, the
detailed study of the labour market structure is crucial to assess the poverty
reduction effects of these privation dedicated programmes because the main
source of poor peoples’ income derives from labour services and wages which in
turn depends on available employment opportunities. The size and composition
of the labour market are rnportant factors that affect the incidence and severity of
poverty in every society. The dichotomous nature of developing countries - a
subsistence sector, mainly located in the rural areas and a more advanced sector
in the urban areas - is another barrier to provision of opportunities. Low
productivity in one sector is the main source of economic disparity and
deprivation. The consequences of this dualism are not restricted to the economic
sectors but affect the entirety of social relations and the social fabric. Gender
disparity explains another basic barrier to equal opportunity which in turn can be
translated into different types of inequalities, including access to education and
expertise.
Methodology: As it is discussed, many factors shape the poverty profile in a
developing society, including the place of living, type of employment, gender,
and education. The main purpose of this study is to provide a clear picture of
poverty incidence amongst different subgroups of the population in Iran. To this
end, poverty within each population subgroup is calculated and decomposed into
different socio-economic subgroups. For the first time in Iran, this study links the
labour market structure with the socioeconomic characteristics of the rural and urban poor households. Using the 2006 household survey data, the labour force
is categorized into three broad segments, public, private and the renter sectors.
The public and private sectors are divided into formal and informal ones. Then,
heads of household characteristics, including gender and education, are taken
into account. This framework is used for both urban and rural areas. In this
poverty profile children in poor families are calculated in each category or group
of households.
Findings: Results of this study are numerous and far-reaching. The outstanding
findings in this abstract are as follows: The composition of the labour market
shows that 76% of the jobs are created by the private sector, 20% offered by the
public sector and 4% is offered by renters. Almost 50% of the labour force is
engaged in the informal sector among which the overwhelming majority is the
poor. 40% of the total labour force is active in the informal private sector while
36% of that is engaged with the formal private sector 17 percent of the total
labour market lies in the formal public sector and 3% are active in the informal
public sector!
10% of the household heads are women and 90% are men. 48.85% of the female
household heads live in poverty while this figure for the male household heads is
30.35%. The overwhelming majority of the total children in poverty, 80.58%,
live in male-headed-households engaged with the informal private sector while
8.62% of the poor children are living in male-headed-households active in the
formal private sector. 4.35% of the child poverty occurs in the families with the
female head active in private sector out of which 4.31% are active in the
informal private sector.
This picture of poverty incidence in Iran lays down an extremely grave set of
challenges for the success of any economic reform.
Type of Study:
orginal |
Received: 2011/10/9 | Published: 2010/03/15