70 percent of Yemenis depend on daily income
English - Tuesday 14 July 2020 الساعة 02:31 pm
Aden, Newsyemen, private:
An increasing number of families have experienced a loss of income due to the Corona virus, as a result of restrictions on movement in the past three months, causing workers to lose their daily earnings.
The majority of the population - over 70% - depends on daily income, except for the very high rates of poverty and unemployment across the country.
In the absence of alternatives available by the government and other actors, thefts and other crimes may be the expected consequences, or the enrollment of workers who have lost their livelihoods on the frontlines, which constitutes a real threat to societal peace.
The labor force in Yemen, before the Houthi militia turned on the state by force of arms in late 2014, was approximately 4 million and 860 thousand, largely uneducated, informal, and male-dominated.
According to the study "The need to reform public sector salaries expenses", the majority of workers in Yemen work in the informal sector at 73%, and from 4 million and 200 thousand workers, 3 million and 270 thousand of them work in production for self-sufficiency.
The study, published by the "Reconstruction of the Yemeni Economy," added that approximately 30% of the working population in Yemen are "self-employed".
While the agricultural sector accounted for about 30% of jobs, followed by trade, wholesale and retail, at 23%.
However, the agricultural sector, which used to occupy about a third of employment in Yemen, has seen farmers have to give up their lands, due to proximity to points of engagement, high fuel prices, irrigation costs, and the persistent shortage of raw materials necessary for food production.
At the same time, the crisis of oil derivatives, fabricated by the Houthi revolutionary militia, has caused half of the factories in Yemen to stop, as the Chamber of Commerce and Industry indicates that more than 350 factories stopped working due to the fuel crisis and more than 980,000 workers lost their livelihoods.
The war, which is in its sixth year, has severely disrupted livelihoods and reduced income, food prices remain high and access to food is insufficient for many families.
