The Labour force survey was the main source behind headline indicators of the labour market for short-term monitoring as well as more structural information on the number and characteristics of the employed, their jobs and working conditions, the job search activities of those without work.
The survey results, released at a validation workshop at Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference centre organised by the Gambia Bureau of Statistics, show important findings on key labour market indicators to be used in evidence-based decision-making and in planning and monitoring processes.
Labour force status of the working-age population: On average, four in ten persons of working age are engaged in the labour market (43.6%), by either working or being unemployed. The population outside the labour force (56.4%), is composed of persons only studying (23.4%), subsistence farmers (9.4%) or persons in other situations such as elderly people, disabled, and discouraged job seekers (23.6%).
labour force participation rate (LFPR) is higher for males (47.9%) than for females (39.6%) in all age categories.
The profile by age group shows that young people enter the labour market later due to longer education. The participation reaches a maximum in prime ages (35-59 years) around 60 per cent and then declines at the age of retirement. In terms of place of residence, the LFRP is much higher in urban compared to rural areas (62.6% and 37.4% respectively).
This result is partly impacted by the survey period after harvesting.
The employment-to-population ratio informs on the share of the working-age population who is employed.
The employed are all those persons of working age who, during the previous week, were engaged in any activity to produce goods or provide services in exchange for pay or to generate profit (in cash or in-kind).
The employment-to-population ratio is 40.3 per cent and offers a similar picture to that of the labour participation rate since the labour force mainly consists of employed persons.
The unemployment rate stands at 7.6 per cent.
The unemployed are persons of working age who (i) were not employed during the previous week preceding the date of interview, (ii) actively looked for a job in the past four weeks, (iii) have been available for a job during the previous week or in the two coming weeks after the date of interview.
The indicator does not reflect the unmet needs for employment and new indicators have been developed by the ILO to better measure the various forms of labour underutilization.
Labour underutilization refers to the total number of persons in the labour force who are not being fully utilized, as well as some who are outside the labour force but who have a stronger attachment with the labour market and can be considered as a potential labour force.
The potential labour force gathers persons who are (i) either seeking employment but are not available or (ii) who want to work but are not seeking.
Discouraged job seekers are a subgroup of the potential labour force. The combined rate of unemployment and potential labour force (LU3) reaches 31.6 per cent.
Informality: The concept regroups employment in the informal sector and informal employment.
Employment in the informal sector corresponds to workers engaged in private businesses that are not registered with the Gambia revenue authority or that do not keep written records of accounts.
The survey reveals that employment in the informal sector amounts to 62.8 per cent of total employment, almost twice higher than that in the formal sector (32.7%).
Informal employment refers to the type of employment relationship of the job holder. Informal employment gathers employers and own-account workers engaged in the informal sector, as well as employees who do not benefit from social protection such as pension funds, paid annual leave or sick leave.
The proportion of informal employment in total employment (SDG indicator 8.3.1) reaches 79.4 per cent. A proportion of workers in the formal sector do not benefit from social protection (15.4%).
Youth in the labour market.
The survey shows the challenges youth are facing in entering the labour market and accessing quality jobs. Their situation resembles that of women.
The youth’s labour force participation rate is around fifteen points below that of adults (38.1% compared to 53.5%).
The unemployment rate is three times the corresponding adult rate (10.5% and 3.8% respectively).
The combined rate of unemployment and potential labour force (LU3) reaches 38.6 per cent. Furthermore, almost half of the youths are underutilized, (LU4) stands at 48.6 per cent against 30.6 per cent among adults.
On average, six in ten youth work as self-employed and are mainly engaged in informal employment (84.0%).
Similar to the adult population, some gender disparities persist, young women are worse off than young males.
Moreover, the survey reveals that 45.3 per cent of the youth are neither in employment nor in education or training.
Source: GYIN The Gambia Chapter
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