Reducing Income Inequality During the Pandemic: Findings from Countrywide Household Surveys on Informal Employment in Senegal

Rudolf Traub-Merz

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ajtas.20251406.13

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Reducing Income Inequality During the Pandemic: Findings from Countrywide Household Surveys on Informal Employment in Senegal

Rudolf Traub-Merz^*

Published in American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics (Volume 14, Issue 6)

Received: 20 November 2025 Accepted: 6 December 2025 Published: 31 December 2025

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Abstract

The paper provides an analysis of how income distribution in Senegal changed during the pandemic. It takes data from the wider FES-IDOS-IlO household surveys on informal employment in Sub-Saharan Africa and captures the income situation of people in informal employment in 2019 and 2022. Using nationally representative samples of 1200 households in both years, it shows that agriculture, rural households, and male peasants benefitted from income increases, while urban workers and women in farming lagged behind. The redistribution of income inequality was realized when the government implemented a substantive food aid project during COVID-19 and based its social relief programme on a ‘buying local’ strategy, thereby transferring budget expenditures into local producer income. Linking social relief to local production may be the single most cause to explain why poverty alleviation and income redistribution took place on such a massive scale.

Published in	American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics (Volume 14, Issue 6)
DOI	10.11648/j.ajtas.20251406.13
Page(s)	277-287
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Senegal Political Economy, Survey on Informal Employment, Income Inequality and the Pandemic, Social Relief

References

[1]	African Business (16. Sept. 2022) Senegal seeks to cash in on global dash for gas. Available at: https://african.business/2022/09/energy-resources/senegal-seeks-to-cash-in-on-global-dash-for-gas/
[2]	FAO [n. d.] The gender gap in land rights. Available at: https://www.fao.org/3/I8796EN/i8796en.pdf
[3]	ILO (2021) International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT database. Data as of January 2021. Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.AGR.EMPL.ZS?end=2019&locations=SN&start=2001
[4]	Mané, Cheikh (2016) Gender and Market in Senegal. August. Available at: https://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/ena/wfp287874.pdf
[5]	Ndij, David (2022) Africa’s Infrastructure-Led Growth Experiment Is Faltering. It Is Time to Focus on Agriculture. December. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Available at: https://carnegieendowment.org/2022/12/20/africa-s-infrastructure-led-growth-experiment-is-faltering.-it-is-time-to-focus-on-agriculture-pub-88662
[6]	ILO (2019) Women and men in the informal economy: A statistical picture.
[7]	Traub-Merz, Rudolf / Öhm, Manfred / Leininger, Julia / Bonnet, Florence / Maihack, Henrik (2022a) A Majority Working in the Shadows. A six-country opinion survey on informal labour in sub-Saharan Africa. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung/German Institute of Development and Sustainability / International Labour Organization. Available at: https://www.fes.de/referat-afrika/publikationen
[8]	Traub-Merz, Rudolf (2022b) Poverty and Inequality During the Pandemic. The diverging experiences of Kenya and Senegal. September 2022. Available at: https://www.fes.de/referat-afrika/publikationen
[9]	WB (2021) World Bank, Poverty & Equity Brief. Senegal, April. Available at: https://databankfiles.worldbank.org/public/ddpext_download/poverty/987B9C90-CB9F-4D93-AE8C-750588BF00QA/AM2020/Global_POVEQ_SEN.pdf
[10]	WB (2022) World Bank, Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2022. Correcting Course. Available at: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/e6eccf97-3c1e-54f1-ab74-ee091ab73559/content
[11]	World Economic Forum (2022) Global Gender Gap Report 2022. Insight Report. July. Available at: https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2022.pdf
[12]	Xinhua (20.04.2020), available at: www.xinhuanet.com/english/africa/2020-04/29/c_139016363.htm
[13]	AFDB: Senegal. Macroeconomic outlook. Available at https://www.afdb.org/en/countries/west-africa/senegal/senegal-economic-outlook (visited 10.02.2023).
[14]	AFDP: AfDB approves 88 million euros emergency budget support for COVID-19 response. Available at: https://www.afdb.org/en/news-and-events/press-releases/senegal-afdb-approves-88-million-euros-emergency-budget-support-COVID-19-response-35864 (visited 09.02.2023)
[15]	FAO (04.02.2021) Senegal published the Annual Agricultural Survey 2019-2020 report, providing data and information on the country’s agricultural sector. Available at: https://www.fao.org/in-action/agrisurvey/news-and-events/detail-events/es/c/1372696/ (visited 08.02.2023).
[16]	IMF: Policy Responses to COVID-19. Senegal, available at: https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/imf-and-COVID19/Policy-Responses-to-COVID-19 (visited 08.02.2023).
[17]	KFW (23.10.2023) Senegal: "Team Europe" sets Corona Emergency Aid on the Way. Available at https://www.kfw-entwicklungsbank.de/International-financing/KfW-Development-Bank/About-us/News/News-Details_606720.html
[18]	WB: The World Bank in Senegal. Available at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/senegal/overview (visited 28.12.2022).
[19]	WB: World Bank financing helps to support Senegal in the fight against COVID-19, available at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2021/08/31/world-bank-financing-helps-to-support-senegal-in-the-fight-against-COVID-19
[20]	WB: WITS, World Integrated Trade Solution, available at: https://wits.worldbank.org/CountryProfile/en/Country/Sen/Year

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APA Style

Traub-Merz, R. (2025). Reducing Income Inequality During the Pandemic: Findings from Countrywide Household Surveys on Informal Employment in Senegal. American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics, 14(6), 277-287. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtas.20251406.13

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ACS Style

Traub-Merz, R. Reducing Income Inequality During the Pandemic: Findings from Countrywide Household Surveys on Informal Employment in Senegal. Am. J. Theor. Appl. Stat. 2025, 14(6), 277-287. doi: 10.11648/j.ajtas.20251406.13

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AMA Style

Traub-Merz R. Reducing Income Inequality During the Pandemic: Findings from Countrywide Household Surveys on Informal Employment in Senegal. Am J Theor Appl Stat. 2025;14(6):277-287. doi: 10.11648/j.ajtas.20251406.13

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@article{10.11648/j.ajtas.20251406.13,
  author = {Rudolf Traub-Merz},
  title = {Reducing Income Inequality During the Pandemic: Findings from Countrywide Household Surveys on Informal Employment in Senegal},
  journal = {American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics},
  volume = {14},
  number = {6},
  pages = {277-287},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajtas.20251406.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtas.20251406.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajtas.20251406.13},
  abstract = {The paper provides an analysis of how income distribution in Senegal changed during the pandemic. It takes data from the wider FES-IDOS-IlO household surveys on informal employment in Sub-Saharan Africa and captures the income situation of people in informal employment in 2019 and 2022. Using nationally representative samples of 1200 households in both years, it shows that agriculture, rural households, and male peasants benefitted from income increases, while urban workers and women in farming lagged behind. The redistribution of income inequality was realized when the government implemented a substantive food aid project during COVID-19 and based its social relief programme on a ‘buying local’ strategy, thereby transferring budget expenditures into local producer income. Linking social relief to local production may be the single most cause to explain why poverty alleviation and income redistribution took place on such a massive scale.},
 year = {2025}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Reducing Income Inequality During the Pandemic: Findings from Countrywide Household Surveys on Informal Employment in Senegal
AU  - Rudolf Traub-Merz
Y1  - 2025/12/31
PY  - 2025
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtas.20251406.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajtas.20251406.13
T2  - American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics
JF  - American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics
JO  - American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics
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AB  - The paper provides an analysis of how income distribution in Senegal changed during the pandemic. It takes data from the wider FES-IDOS-IlO household surveys on informal employment in Sub-Saharan Africa and captures the income situation of people in informal employment in 2019 and 2022. Using nationally representative samples of 1200 households in both years, it shows that agriculture, rural households, and male peasants benefitted from income increases, while urban workers and women in farming lagged behind. The redistribution of income inequality was realized when the government implemented a substantive food aid project during COVID-19 and based its social relief programme on a ‘buying local’ strategy, thereby transferring budget expenditures into local producer income. Linking social relief to local production may be the single most cause to explain why poverty alleviation and income redistribution took place on such a massive scale.
VL  - 14
IS  - 6
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Author Information

Rudolf Traub-Merz

Consultant, Bonn, Germany

Contact Email

http://orcid.org/0009-0005-3475-3646

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APA Style

Traub-Merz, R. (2025). Reducing Income Inequality During the Pandemic: Findings from Countrywide Household Surveys on Informal Employment in Senegal. American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics, 14(6), 277-287. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtas.20251406.13

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ACS Style

Traub-Merz, R. Reducing Income Inequality During the Pandemic: Findings from Countrywide Household Surveys on Informal Employment in Senegal. Am. J. Theor. Appl. Stat. 2025, 14(6), 277-287. doi: 10.11648/j.ajtas.20251406.13

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AMA Style

Traub-Merz R. Reducing Income Inequality During the Pandemic: Findings from Countrywide Household Surveys on Informal Employment in Senegal. Am J Theor Appl Stat. 2025;14(6):277-287. doi: 10.11648/j.ajtas.20251406.13

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ajtas.20251406.13,
  author = {Rudolf Traub-Merz},
  title = {Reducing Income Inequality During the Pandemic: Findings from Countrywide Household Surveys on Informal Employment in Senegal},
  journal = {American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics},
  volume = {14},
  number = {6},
  pages = {277-287},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajtas.20251406.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtas.20251406.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajtas.20251406.13},
  abstract = {The paper provides an analysis of how income distribution in Senegal changed during the pandemic. It takes data from the wider FES-IDOS-IlO household surveys on informal employment in Sub-Saharan Africa and captures the income situation of people in informal employment in 2019 and 2022. Using nationally representative samples of 1200 households in both years, it shows that agriculture, rural households, and male peasants benefitted from income increases, while urban workers and women in farming lagged behind. The redistribution of income inequality was realized when the government implemented a substantive food aid project during COVID-19 and based its social relief programme on a ‘buying local’ strategy, thereby transferring budget expenditures into local producer income. Linking social relief to local production may be the single most cause to explain why poverty alleviation and income redistribution took place on such a massive scale.},
 year = {2025}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Reducing Income Inequality During the Pandemic: Findings from Countrywide Household Surveys on Informal Employment in Senegal
AU  - Rudolf Traub-Merz
Y1  - 2025/12/31
PY  - 2025
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtas.20251406.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajtas.20251406.13
T2  - American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics
JF  - American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics
JO  - American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics
SP  - 277
EP  - 287
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2326-9006
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtas.20251406.13
AB  - The paper provides an analysis of how income distribution in Senegal changed during the pandemic. It takes data from the wider FES-IDOS-IlO household surveys on informal employment in Sub-Saharan Africa and captures the income situation of people in informal employment in 2019 and 2022. Using nationally representative samples of 1200 households in both years, it shows that agriculture, rural households, and male peasants benefitted from income increases, while urban workers and women in farming lagged behind. The redistribution of income inequality was realized when the government implemented a substantive food aid project during COVID-19 and based its social relief programme on a ‘buying local’ strategy, thereby transferring budget expenditures into local producer income. Linking social relief to local production may be the single most cause to explain why poverty alleviation and income redistribution took place on such a massive scale.
VL  - 14
IS  - 6
ER  -

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