How Secure Is Wage Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Ajit Zacharias, Aashima Sinha, Abena D. Oduro, Nthabiseng Moleko, Thomas Masterson and Fernando Rios-Avila

Economics Policy Note Archive from Levy Economics Institute

Abstract: Employment security refers to the ability of both formal and informal institutions to provide employed individuals protection against economic risks and support their economic progress. It is related, but not limited, to the worker's capacity to earn a sufficient level of income. In most high-income countries, government-supported or government-facilitated institutions exist, with varying degrees of effectiveness, to safeguard against risks such as old age, sickness, disability, and short-term unemployment. In low- and middle-income countries, where welfare state institutions are weak or absent, the situation is quite different. At least some protections, however limited, are primarily available to a relatively small segment of the population--specifically, employees in formal jobs with relatively high pay. In societies with weak welfare systems that do not offer adequate financial protection, most workers depend solely on income and nonwage benefits from employment for their economic security, therefore placing them at various levels of precarity depending on their employment type (whether formal or informal), individual earnings, family income, background, and other factors.

Date: 2025-10
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