ABSTRACT
While Egypt experienced relatively positive economic performance prior to the global economic and financial crisis that began in 2007–2008, important employment and labor market challenges persisted both before and after the worldwide economic downturn. Prior to 2007, and in the decade that followed, the Egyptian unemployment rate remained among the highest in the world. Moreover, the nation’s labor markets have had a remarkably high incidence of underemployment, with jobs that do not provide enough paid work, or work that does not make full use of a worker’s skills and abilities. Egyptians also rely on an enormous informal economy that is not included in the gross national product (GNP) or gross domestic product (GDP). This informal sector is not monitored by any form of government and is not taxed. In addition, poor working conditions persist across most occupational categories and the nation’s workers, paid and unpaid, are rigidly segregated by gender. As Azita Berar Awad, Directoer of the Employment Policy Department of the International Labor Organization (ILO), wrote in 2011, “Gender inequalities and particularly the low labour force participation of women are issues of major concern.” While the Egyptian economy has improved since 2007–2008, the aftermath of the global economic and financial crisis had a major impact that resulted in a significant economic downturn with prolonged increases in unemployment, poverty, and inequality that exacerbated public discontent, leading to the 2011 revolution. The revolution, in turn, caused an even greater economic slowdown as political and institutional uncertainty and rising insecurity hurt tourism, manufacturing, and construction (Nassar and Biltagy 2017).
