Household Vulnerability and Resilience to Shocks in Egypt

Abstract

Exposure to shocks reduces households’ economic resilience. While all households are negatively affected by various shocks, poor households are more likely to be exposed to different risks. This chapter uses the 2018 round of the Egypt Labor Market Panel Survey (ELMPS) to examine the nature of shocks experienced by households in different socio-economic groups and the ex-post coping mechanisms that they adopted. The results show that almost a quarter of the Egyptian households experienced food insecurity either solely or in combination with shocks. Economic shocks were the most common distress followed by health shocks during the year preceding the ELMPS interview. Households used consumption rationing or depended on their social capital as a coping mechanism. Households whose heads had less education, worked in the informal private sector or agriculture, or were self-employed were more likely to have experienced a shock. Households residing in rural areas, particularly in Upper Egypt, or with large families were more vulnerable to shocks.

Inequidades sociales e interseccionalidad en salud: retos y alternativas

“…Otra de las estrategias de medios de vida es la diversificación de las labores productivas; esto se refiere al proceso por el cual las familias rurales consideran un portafolio de distintas actividades que pueden desarrollar de acuerdo con sus capacidades o activos de los que disponen; la diversificación puede funcionar como una herramienta que les permita hacer frente a los impactos provenientes de los desajustes en los mercados económicos o los estresores climáticos que pueden poner en riesgo los ingresos del hogar [Ellis, 2008;Helmy, 2020].…”