Urban Livelihoods in Afghanistan - the Afghanistan Research and ...

Urban Livelihoods in Afghanistan5. Urban Labour Markets and Household Consumption5.1 Urban labour markets andincome-earning opportunitiesInformality is the basic feature of urbanlivelihoods in Afghanistan. This is not only interms of land and housing, but also in relationto work and income opportunities. Informalemployment is a lifeline for the great majorityof the urban population. The problem is, asthe main source of livelihoods, the informaleconomy is characterised by irregularity, lowwages, unreliability, high competition andseasonality. In spite of being the single mostimportant source of work, its size is notsufficient to accommodate the steadilygrowing urban population. It has beenelaborated upon elsewhere that globally:... most informal workers (are) theactive unemployed, who have nochoice but to subsist by some meansor starve. 34This need to create one’s own marginaleconomic opportunities in the informaleconomy was clearly articulated by the studysample in the three longitudinal sites. Manylivelihoods totally depend on women andchildren working for extremely low income,with some resorting to begging, experimentingwith new income activities, changing areasof work frequently — all to grasp at everysmall opportunity to earn. Reducing urbanpoverty and vulnerability involves seriouslyimplementing what is advocated in the InterimAfghanistan National Development Strategy(I-ANDS): “unemployment and underemploymentare chronic problems that requirea pro-poor growth strategy.”To be able to afford living in the city, whatkind of employment strategies do poor urbanhouseholds engage in? To answer this question,it would be helpful to examine broaderoccupational categories that fit the studypopulation’s income-earning activities (seeFigure 8), before breaking the categoriesdown into more precise household livelihoodsand discussing issues around the quality ofavailable opportunities (see Table 2).Figure 8.Economic activities of working individuals across the study year(share of reported incidences of work falling under each employment category)57%6% 5%40%6%Regularemployment19%Selfemployment38%32% 33%Casual wagelabour19%36%1%Home-basedworkKabul Herat Jalalabad3% 3% 2%Others (begging,unpaid work ashelper)34 Davis, M. (2004), “Planet of Slums, Urban Involution and the Informal Proletariat”, New Left Review, p. 5-34.Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit 35