Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/31516 
Year of Publication: 
2007
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 516
Publisher: 
Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
Abstract: 
There is now widespread recognition that in most countries, private-sector investment has not been able to absorb surplus labor. This is all the more the case for poor unskilled people. Public works programs and employment guarantee schemes in South Africa, India, and other countries provide jobs while creating public assets. In addition to physical infrastructure, an area that has immense potential to create much-needed jobs is that of social service delivery and social infrastructure. While unemployment and enforced idleness” persist, existing time-use survey data reveal that people around the worldespecially women and childrenspend long hours performing unpaid work. This work includes not only household maintenance and care provisioning for family members and communities, but also time spent that helps fill public infrastructural gapsfor example, in the energy, health, and education sectors. This paper suggests that, by bringing together public job creation, on the one hand, and unpaid work, on the other, well-designed employment guarantee policies can promote job creation, gender equality, and pro-poor development.
Subjects: 
Unemployment
Poverty
Employer of Last Resort
Employment Guarantee Schemes
Gender
Household Production
South Africa
JEL: 
B5
E24
E61
E62
H1
J16
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
225.92 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.