Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Jonathan Lain
Momentum is building for better data in the Caribbean, but more work lies ahead
A decade ago, someone trying to understand poverty dynamics in the Caribbean would have hit a wall. They would have encountered statistical office websites with limited information on the data collected, survey data locked in filing cabinets, and no clear channels to request access even when data existed. Yet this is beginning to change. Statistical offices are implementing more surveys, publishing more of their work online, and increasingly making microdata accessible in specialized archives.
Jamaica’s poverty rollercoaster: harnessing data to break the cycle
To break free from the cycle of vulnerability, Jamaica needs economic transformation to create productive jobs that can lift people out of poverty sustainably. This means enhancing productivity in sectors where poorer workers are currently concentrated, including tourism and agriculture, while also bolstering formal job creation in sectors where productivity is already high.
Why do so many Nigerian workers remain poor? Labor force surveys may have the answer
Nigeria faces a serious poverty-reduction challenge: Almost half of Nigerians are estimated to live below the national poverty line. However, unemployment is less than 5 percent. But even when many Nigerians are working, they remain poor. In fact, poor and non-poor Nigerians are about equally likely to work. To escape poverty, it is more important what someone does, rather than whether they work. Therefore, effective poverty-reduction policies need evidence on the quality of jobs in Nigeria.
Are Nigerians getting more productive jobs?
In the decade prior to COVID-19, Nigeria made little progress on its sizeable poverty-reduction challenge, despite positive per capita growth. Since then, deep recessions and rising prices have likely made the situation worse. Now, almost half of Nigerians are estimated to be poor: they live below the national poverty line. Despite waning growth, many Nigerians are working—but working alone is not proving enough to lift them out of poverty because more and better jobs are needed.
How data can inform policy to address challenges faced by internally displaced people in the Central African Republic
Decades of division and conflict have left the Central African Republic (CAR) with severe development challenges and entrenched poverty among its population. Almost 7 out of 10 Central Africans live on less than $2.15 (2017 PPP) per day, and more than half cannot afford to feed themselves adequately even if they devote their entire household budget to food. Development policies need to support the most vulnerable Central Africans, especially those who have been forcibly displaced by conflict.
Nigeria’s dichotomy: low unemployment, high poverty rates
When analyzing poverty, only looking at unemployment rates will be insufficient and misleading. Instead, job quality – underemployment, people’s specific activities and occupations, and markers of formality – is fundamental for understanding the labor market and providing recommendations for policies. In the case of a country like Nigeria, unemployment has proved a difficult statistic to interpret. Nigeria’s unemployment rate stood at 33.3 percent in Q4 of 2020.
Moving to the frontier of labor market statistics in Nigeria
Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is taking huge strides forward in improving its labor market statistics. With a new methodology that matches international best practices – in terms of questionnaire design, sampling, fieldwork management, and data quality monitoring – NBS is leapfrogging to the frontier of global labor market statistics.
What does moving to the 2017 PPPs and new international poverty lines mean for Nigeria?
For further information please see the Q&A at the end of the Blog post. In September 2022, the World Bank is set to launch a series of new international poverty lines, as the data on prices that are used compare different countries are being updated. This has profound implications for poverty estimates in some countries. Nigeria’s poverty rate at the new extreme international poverty line of $2.15 in 2017 prices is about 8 percentage points lower than at the previous line of $1.90 in 2011 prices.
Seasonal deprivation in the Sahel is large, widespread, but it can be anticipated and addressed
In April 20202, Action Against Hunger published a report presenting a set of measures designed to mitigate the impacts of the upcoming food crisis. The report started with a statement that is likely to evoke a strong sense of déjà-vu for any development practitioner familiar with the Sahel : “The 2022 lean season is likely to be particularly difficult for food and nutrition security in the Sahel”.
Tackling poverty in multiple dimensions: A proving ground in Nigeria?
Nigeria aspires to lift 100 million people out of poverty by 2030.
Nigeria’s ambitious poverty-reduction targets hinge on developing human capital. Many of the drivers of poverty are considered in detail in a new report, “A Better Future for All Nigerians: Nigeria Poverty Assessment 2022.” Health, nutrition, and education are among the most critical for building human capital. Even prior to COVID-19, Nigeria had some of the worst human capital outcomes in the world.
Barriers to trade, barriers to poverty reduction? How Nigeria can harness trade to lift people out of poverty
Nigeria’s aspiration to lift all of its people out of poverty by 2030 presents a serious challenge. Even before COVID-19, 4 in 10 Nigerians lived below the national poverty line – some 80 million people. The global pandemic, rising inflation, and ongoing uncertainty related to the war in Ukraine – combined with relentless population growth – have made Nigeria’s poverty-reduction goals more challenging than ever.
US Import Demand Is Dropping Off A Cliff
By Henry Byers of FreightWaves The latest ocean container bookings data reveals that despite the strong levels of inbound cargo during the first five months of 2022, import demand is not just softening - it's dropping off a cliff. Because capacity on the trans-Pacific has remained relatively stable, Drewry's container spot rates from China to the West Coast have plunged 41% month-over-month to $9,630.
COVID-19 and Nigeria's human capital crisis
For investors looking for the most active stocks in the stock market now, biotech stocks could be a go-to. After all, companies across the industry are constantly providing key updates on their latest developmental pipeline advances. Aside from this, there would also be clinical trial results, regulatory updates, and mergers & acquisitions to consider as well. From cancer to COVID-19 among other major illnesses plaguing the world today, these companies are working on pressing matters.
COVID-19 and Nigeria’s human capital crisis
Nigeria’s ambitious poverty-reduction targets hinge on developing human capital. Many of the drivers of poverty are considered in detail in a new report, “A Better Future for All Nigerians: Nigeria Poverty Assessment 2022.” Health, nutrition, and education are among the most critical for building human capital. Even prior to COVID-19, Nigeria had some of the worst human capital outcomes in the world.
5 Top Oil and Gas Stocks To Watch This Week
For a variety of reasons, oil and gas stocks have been heating up in the stock market lately. These range from the reopening of economies following the pandemic, to sanctions on Russian oil. In fact, there may be doubts that a higher output target by OPEC+ producers would ease the current tight supply. Thus, it is no surprise that many investors are paying close attention to the industry's movement right now.
New survey suggests many Black cancer patients aren't made aware of clinical trials
Clinical trials largely fail to enroll diverse patient populations - and in the last couple of years, patient advocates, the FDA and even a slate of pharma companies have taken steps to change that. However, new research suggests that many Black patients aren't made aware of trials in the first place. Of 102 patients who self-identified as Black in a recent Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance survey, 40% said that no one on their care team had discussed clinical trials.
Don't Underestimate Its Effect On Markets
It isn't just semantics, nor some trivial, egotistical use of quotation marks. There is an actual and vast difference between inflation and "inflation." And in the final results, that difference isn't strictly or even mainly about consumer prices. Who cares, most people wonder. After all, what does it really matter why prices are going up so far?
Omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5 account for up to 13% of COVID variants in U.S.
Should You Consider Adding These Dividend Stocks To Your Watchlist? As we tread through a volatile stock market, investors could be thinking of what stocks to buy. Amid the current headwinds in the market, dividend stocks could be worth watching today. For the uninitiated, companies that pay out dividends are often more established and have a track record of profitability.
Picking up the pace of poverty reduction in Nigeria
Nigeria aspires to lift all of its people out of poverty by 2030. This is an ambitious target, as even before COVID-19 struck, some 4 in 10 Nigerians lived below the poverty line—about 80 million people. Some of the key drivers of poverty in Nigeria and potential poverty-reducing policies are considered in detail in a new report, A Better Future for All Nigerians: Nigeria Poverty Assessment 2022.
Picking up the pace of poverty reduction in Nigeria
Nigeria aspires to lift all of its people out of poverty by 2030. This is an ambitious target, as even before COVID-19 struck, some 4 in 10 Nigerians lived below the poverty line—about 80 million people. Some of the key drivers of poverty in Nigeria and potential poverty-reducing policies are considered in detail in a new report, A Better Future for All Nigerians: Nigeria Poverty Assessment 2022.
Nigeria wants to end poverty by 2030. How can it achieve this?
Before COVID-19, around 80 million people in Nigeria – 40% of the population – lived below the poverty line. Nigeria now aspires to lift all its people out of poverty by 2030. In the short run, the country needs to tackle COVID-related inequalities, such as vaccine distribution and learning losses because of school closures. Longer term, macroeconomic reforms and access to infrastructure covering everything from drinking water to telecoms networks needs to be improved.
The COVID-19 crisis in Nigeria: What’s happening to welfare? New data call for expanded social protection in Africa’s most populous country
The health impacts of COVID-19 have not spared Nigeria. The country recorded its first case of COVID-19 on February 27, 2020, and has subsequently suffered three distinct waves of infection, peaking in June 2020, January 2021, and August 2021 (Panel A, Figure 1).
The COVID-19 crisis isn’t over for workers in Nigeria
The labor market is the main vehicle through which the proceeds of growth are shared among households and individuals. Therefore, understanding the labor market is essential for poverty reduction. This topic is crucial in Nigeria, where the government aspires to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty by 2030—an ambitious objective since, even before the pandemic, around 4 in 10 Nigerians lived below the national poverty line.
The COVID-19 crisis isn’t over for workers in Nigeria
The labor market is the main vehicle through which the proceeds of growth are shared among households and individuals. Therefore, understanding the labor market is essential for poverty reduction. This topic is crucial in Nigeria, where the government aspires to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty by 2030—an ambitious objective since, even before the pandemic, around 4 in 10 Nigerians lived below the national poverty line.
Jobs for a new generation: Rebuilding Nigeria’s labor market after COVID-19
Labor is the main asset for the world’s poorest people. This means that the labor market is the primary vehicle through which the proceeds of economic growth are spread to households and individuals. Therefore, understanding the labor market is crucial to achieve Nigeria’s aspiration to lift 100 million people out of poverty by 2030 – an ambitious objective, since even before the COVID-19 crisis around 4 in 10 Nigerians were living below the national poverty line.
Using data to combat the ongoing crisis, and the next, in Nigeria
The COVID-19 crisis is affecting all Nigerians, but different groups face different impacts on their health, welfare, and livelihoods. As such, no single, monolithic solution exists to the crisis: countervailing welfare policies need to reflect these differences and deliver support aligned to communities’ specific needs. To achieve this, Nigeria’s policy makers need information on COVID-19 risks and vulnerabilities in specific population groups.
How should we measure food security during crises? The case of Nigeria
High-frequency monitoring of access to food has become especially important during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Food access in Nigeria, and across the globe, has significantly worsened since the start of the pandemic due to significant disruptions to food supply chains and widespread loss of income. Poor access to food can have both short- and long-term impacts on health and wellbeing and is thus an important targeting criteria.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Jonathan
Contact Jonathan, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack