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VOL.1 , ISSUE 71OL.1 , ISSUE 71
V ELITE
according to individuals' ability to
benefit from them and the impact of
those grants, which is the most
important factor. In this context,
gender plays a major role. For
example, one study has shown that
certain segments of the beneficiaries of
these initiatives or grants, such as
women, benefit more and have a
greater impact than others.
Q7: As an economist, do you think
that economics alone is sufficient to
understand issues such
unemployment and inequality? Or does
it need to be integrated with other
social sciences?
Complementarity between disciplines
is certainly indispensable. For example,
we recognise that the unemployment
rate is high in Egypt, that it is higher create job opportunities for them.
among women than men, and that
there is a weakness in women's
participation in the labour market,
which has been declining for 30 years,
particularly among women with higher
qualifications.
In this context, there are two studies,
one by Dr. Rana Hindi, on the impact
of marriage and childbearing on
women's participation in the labour
market. The results showed a decline in
participation, but only temporarily,
after which it rose again at different
rates depending on the type of job they
were doing.
In government jobs and formal employment
in the private sector, the participation rate rises
again more significantly than in the informal
sector, where the decline is sharp.
This shows the impact of social norms, such as
the opinions of husbands or relatives, on
women returning to work and whether it is
worthwhile or not. We can therefore conclude
that it is important to integrate the
understanding and study of science and social
phenomena.
The second study was published by J-PAL,
Poverty Action Lab, with the participation of
as
Dr.Caroline Kraft and Dr. Abdel Rahman
Nagi, on a programme to assess the impact of
providing subsidies in one of the slums in
Cairo to mothers whose children are under the
age of eight, enabling them to send their
children to nurseries (affiliated with the
Ministry of Social Solidarity) completely free
of charge, as well as providing platforms to
However, only a small percentage of women
responded to this opportunity or programme.
The reason for this is also social customs and
norms. When the women were asked about the
reasons, it became clear that their husbands
and relatives rejected the idea because leaving
children is considered ‘shameful’.
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