Poor households suffer volatile work situations - NBS survey

A survey by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, has shown that poorer households suffered volatile work situations in February this year, resulting in a six-month (September to February 2020) decline in the share of workers in the lowest consumption quintile/class.

The survey report titled, “COVID-19 National Longitudinal Phone Survey (NLPS), Round 10”, released yesterday, stated: “Working situations have been most volatile for individuals living in poorer households.

“For individuals in the top consumption quintile, the share of people working has remained fairly stable, at 69 per cent in January/February 2019, 67 per cent in September 2020, and returning to 69 per cent in February 2021.

“For individuals in the lowest consumption quintile, however, the share of people working jumped from 52 per cent in January/February 2019 to 70 per cent in September 2020, but then dropped back to 63 per cent in February 2021.”

The survey showed that the share of Nigerians who were working in February 2021 was close to 70 per cent which was slightly lower than the share working in September 2020, and higher than the share working in January/February 2019.

The survey noted that the reason for the rise in the share of Nigerians who were working may be due to “an added worker” effect where households boost their overall labour supply to cope with negative economic shocks.

The survey revealed that the labour supply was higher for women than men during the period.