Labour Market Paperdoc - Alternatives to Neo-liberalism in ：劳动力市场paperdoc -在新自由主义的替代品.docVIP

ALTERNATIVES TO NEO-LIBERALISM IN SOUTHERN AFRICA A CASE OF THE LABOUR MARKET IN ZAMBIA Grayson Koyi 1.0 Introduction Zambia has a young and rapidly growing population of about 12.8 million people. Children (aged 0–14) represent roughly 45.3% of the population and young adults (age 15–24) about 21.5%. Admittedly, this population structure (with a significant economically active population currently places strong demands on socio-economic opportunities and services such as employment, livelihood creation, health and education services. Managing such a complex demographic structure is, therefore, one of the key labour market challenges for Zambia presently and in the future. However, an investigation of the overall labour market policy thrust in Zambia suggests an absence of a sustainable and comprehensive framework to ensure employment and livelihood creation for all the (potentially) economic active populace. Beyond this demographic challenge is also the manner in which structural adjustment measures have cut a jagged line across the labour market in Zambia. Incidentally, following the implementation of structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) in the 1990s in Zambia, the role of the state in managing labour market processes as well as acting to mitigating undesired labour market outcomes has significantly diminished. This has led to a burgeoning of informal employment, alongside disturbing evidences of casualization and other atypical forms of employment. Wages and conditions of work, especially for public sector workers and the bulk of informal workers, have equally trended downwards, leading to a public outcry for a restoration of the dignity of work and for a more humane treatment of workers in Zambia. Besides, a number of workers, especially those in informal employment, have lacked guaranteed social security thereby exposing them to various vulnerabilities in old age once they are no longer employable. Any alternative development framework that is human centre