Cover -- Title page -- Copyright -- Contents -- Foreword -- Background papers -- Acronyms -- List of definitions -- OVERVIEW Summary of findings and policy directions -- Introduction -- The labour demand side:binding macroeconomic policy constraints -- The supply side: more education but low labour force participation -- The labour market inaction: mixed results across the region -- Quality of employment, poverty, inequality and social protection -- Prospects -- General policy directions -- 1. Macroeconomic policy coherence aimed at economic growth and shared benefits -- 2. Promotion of participatory and inclusive social dialogue -- 3. Expansion of coverage and increased effectiveness of social protection -- Specific policies -- 4. Improved migration management -- 5. Well-designed employment policies and active labour market programmes -- 6. Increased quality and greater relevance of education and training -- 7. Better statistics and effective monitoring and evaluation of policies andprogrammes -- Chapter 1 Output and employment growth -- Introduction -- Slow growth but fast employment creation -- Sectoral changes in employment: resilient agriculture and expanding services -- The private sector: still constrained after the reforms -- The key role of migration in the region -- Social unrest: the ingredients were present -- Post-2010 policies:a strategic approach required -- Concluding remarks -- Chapter 2 Population,labour supply,employment and unemployment -- Introduction -- The labour force participation rate: not that low except for women -- Uneven reduction in total unemployment -- Youth unemployment: more concrete changes -- Women workers have a long way to go -- The case of the GCC: fast employment growth but not for nationals -- Concluding remarks -- Chapter 3 Quality of jobs and standards of living -- Introduction -- Quality of jobs.

Working poor: fewer but not by much -- Employment vulnerability: low but not for Arab women -- Quality of life -- Declining poverty but small gains in human development -- Low expenditure inequality but little known about wealth accumulation -- Concluding remarks -- Chapter 4 Education and skills -- Introduction -- The supply of education: educated and jobless -- The demand for skills: at what wages and for what jobs? -- Large inequality of educational opportunity -- To vocationalize or not? This is the curriculum question -- Educated entrepreneur or educated employee? -- Gender parity: almost there but not quite -- The case of the GCC -- Concluding remarks -- Chapter 5 Social protection -- Introduction -- Social protection: limited coverage -- Pensions: only for the formal sector, still fiscally unsustainable -- Unemployment insurance:limited but expanding -- Health care: uneven with high out-of-pocket expenses -- Maternity: mainly for the public sector and costly for the private sector -- Social assistance:fragmented and poorly targeted -- Post-2010 changes: the need for comprehensive social protection -- Concluding remarks -- Chapter 6 Prospects and policy directions -- Summary -- Low prospects and an ageing labour force -- Policy directions -- General policies -- Macroeconomic policy coherence aimed at economic growth and shared benefits -- Promotion of participatory and inclusive social dialogue -- Expansion of coverage and increased effectiveness of social protection -- Specific policies -- Improved migration management -- Well-designed employment policies and active labour market programmes -- Increased quality and greater relevance of education and training -- Better statistics and effective monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes -- Concluding remarks -- Chapter 7 Workers' perspective -- Background and introduction.

International labour standards -- Freedom of association, collective bargaining and social dialogue -- Creating jobs, structural transformation, industrial development and productive employment -- Chapter 8 Employers' perspective -- Trade, competition and investment policies for growth, innovation, wealth and employment creation -- Inclusive labour market regulatory frameworks -- Regulatory frameworks that support innovation and promote competition -- Tackling corruption and good governance -- Increase efforts formore efficient and more equitable distributive mechanisms -- The specific role of private sector organizations in policy dialogue -- Recommendations for chambers and EOs inthe region -- Endnotes -- Chapter 1: Output & employment growth -- Chapter 2: Population, labour supply, employment and unemployment -- Chapter 3: Quality of jobs and standards of living -- Chapter 4: Education and skills -- Chapter 5: Social protection -- Chapter 6: Prospects and policy directions -- Chapter 7: Workers' perspectives -- Chapter 8: Employers' perspectives -- Annex -- Methodology and country groupings -- Appendix -- List of Tables -- Notes to tables A1-A5 -- Other notes to tables A1-A5 -- Sources for tables A1-A5 -- Bibliography -- List of figures -- Figure 1.1: Arab countries had low GDP per capita growth in the 1980s and 1990s -- Figure 1.2: GDP growth in the Arab region accelerated after 2000 but was still slower than other regions -- Figure 1.3: The employment response to output growth was significant -- Figure 1.4: Productivity gains have been small in the Arab region -- Figure 1.5: In relation to incomes, employment growth in agriculture is still high in the Arab region -- Figure 1.6: Labour reallocation across sectors contributed negatively to productivity growth in the Arab region -- Figure 1.7: Most employment gains were in the services sector.

Figure 1.8: Selected indicators for the private sector -- Figure 1.9: Investments in manufacturing led to sizeable employment creation -- Figure 1.10: Access to land is a major or severe constraint on investment -- Figure 1.11: Income growth and voice and accountability have been low in the Arab states -- Figure 2.1: Population and labour force pressures have declined in the last 20 years -- Figure 2.2: Ratio of youth-to-adult population declined continuously -- Figure 2.3: Demographic dependency has declined -- Figure 2.4: Male labour force participation in the Arab region is similar to that in other regions -- Figure 2.5: Arab region has low labour force participation rates mainly as a result of low female participation rates -- Figure 2.6: Female labor force participation rate increased in practically all Arab countries in the last 20 years -- Figure 2.7: The unemployment rate in the Arab region is very much influenced by the unemployment rate of women -- Figure 2.8: In most Arab countries unemployment decreased -- Figure 2.9: In MENA unemployment rates do not decline as household income increases -- Figure 2.10: Youth unemployment in the Arab region is high in a comparative context -- Figure 2.11: Age and gender dimensions of unemployment are complex -- Figure 2.12: Female labour force participation tends to be low among middle income countries -- Figure 2.13: Women are overrepresented among wage and unpaid family workers -- Figure 2.14: Ratio of national workers to migrants workers in the GCC declined considerably since the 1970s with the exception of Kuwait -- Figure 2.15: The decline in unemployment was accompanied by an increase in informal employment -- Figure 3.1: The share of working poor has been relatively low in the Arab region but declined slowly over time.

Figure 3.2: The share of wages in GDP declined faster in the Arab region than in other regions -- Figure 3.3: Vulnerable employment in the Arab region has also been relatively low and declining over time -- Figure 3.4: The share of women in vulnerable employment compared to men in the Arab region is the largest in the world -- Figure 3.5: Poverty rates in the Arab region are low but decline slowly -- Figure 3.6: Progress in the HDI slowed down in all but one Arab country -- Figure 3.7: All but three Arab countries score low on the HDI in relation to their per capita income -- Figure 3.8: Arab countries have moderately low levels of inequality compared to other developing regions -- Figure 3.9: Household consumption as % of GDP has been in decline since the 1990s -- Figure 3.10: Despite economic growth, pessimism was on the rise -- Figure 4.1: Educational achievement is lowestwhen there are no incentives to emigrate -- Figure 4.2: Arab firms train least -- Figure 4.3: Skills is not a major constraint -- Figure 4.4: Expenditure on education is high in the Arab region, but less so after adjusting for the number of children -- Figure 4.5: High inequality in educational achievement -- Figure 4.6: Education can be compromised, if it is not equally distributed -- Figure 4.7: Many are able to become entrepreneurs but do not do so for other reasons -- Figure 4.8: Female to male ratio of enrolments by education level, 1960-2010 -- Figure 5.1: Schematic structure of social protection -- Figure 5.2: Although composed predominantly of middle-income countries, social protection coverage islimited in the Arab region -- Figure 5.3: Before the financial crisis, few Arab countries provided unemployment benefits -- Figure 5.4: Out-of-pocket health expenditure in total health expenditure in Arab countries 2005-2010.

Figure 6.1: Future growth in the Arab region may be among the lowest of all world regions.