COVID-19: WEIGHING THE IMPACT OF AFRICAN LABOUR MARKET ON WORKING POVERTY IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Abstract

The experience of Sub Saharan African countries specifically on working poverty is quite overwhelming in the event of economic shocks or crisis. The recessionary period and financial meltdown, trade cycle effect and policy reversals, above all disease/Pandemic (Covid-19) continued to ravage the labour growth productivity thus impact on working poverty of SSA countries This study empirically investigate the relationship among Dependency ratio, Labour Productivity and Poverty in Sub Saharan African Countries using sample of thirty eight (38) countries spanning the period 2000 to 2022. This study employs the pooled ordinary least square regression model, fixed and random effect regression model. The study also employ the causality test approach and the GMM model. The result of fixed effect estimation shows that labour productivity is negative and statistically significant at 1 percent while dependency ratio posit a negative although significant at 10 percent level of significance. However, the result of panel causality test revealed that labour productivity granger causes poverty indicating a uni-directional relationship. However, there exists a bi-directional relationship between poverty and dependency ratio in SSA countries. The result of GMM estimation posit that lag value of the dependent variable poverty has a positive and statistically significant effect on current poverty labour productivity has a negative and statistical significant impact on poverty. Dependency ratio has a negative effect on poverty.