Working Poverty and Quality of Employment: The Great Refugee Crisis in Middle Eastern Host Countries

Abstract

This paper focuses on the distribution of the working poor by income level across countries and examines how indicators such as the level of unemployment, the labour force, and the number of self-employed, impact that distribution. In addition, it also examines the impact of official development assistance and the massive influx of refugees as a result of the Syrian conflict. Four income levels of the working poor are analysed using the panel data technique. The sample includes the 5 main host countries (Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey) for the period from 1991 to 2021. Our results confirm that unemployment is not a significant predictor for developing countries, so we recommend indicators of job quality. Moreover, our results confirm a low impact of refugees on the labour market in host countries. Furthermore, the effect of self-employment on the income level of the working poor is positive but limited.