PEP news from October 2020

October 2020

Over 180 participants meet online for the 2020 PEP Annual Conference

From September 22 to October 15, members of PEP project teams participated for training and to present their research findings and policy recommendations at the 2020 PEP Annual Conference.

Activities culminated on October 16 with the 2020 PEP Policy Conference. Development researchers, practitioners, leading experts, and policy stakeholders from around the world discussed the Coproduction of development research: Experience from PEP-supported projects.

Find out more

PEP webinar: Designing and contextualising research to solve specific policy problems

PEP is hosting a session on “Designing and contextualising research to solve specific policy problems” at the What Works Global Summit 2020.

PEP staff and researchers will discuss the organisation’s approach to making sure policy research is useful and useable.

This free event will take place at 2 p.m. UTC on November 3, 2020.

Find out more and register

PEP researchers in Malawi highlight how improving mobile money use can encourage financial inclusion

Following the easing of Malawi's pandemic response restrictions, a team of local PEP researchers held a national policy conference to share and discuss their findings and policy recommendations.
Read more

Happy 18^th Anniversary, PEP!

On October 1, PEP celebrated 18 years of building and promoting local capacity to drive sustainable development in the Global South.

Over 1100 researchers have benefitted from PEP's support program to produce high-quality research that is informing policy.
Read more

Longer school hours help mothers find better jobs in Chile

Women’s labour force participation (LFP) in Chile has increased significantly in recent decades but the gap to men remains substantial. Women also tend to work fewer hours and in temporary or informal jobs with lower wages and no social protection. One of the main reasons women do not participate in the labour market is that they do not have access to childcare for their children, which remains the case even when the children reach school age. A team of local PEP researchers found that extending school hours improves the labour market outcomes for mothers of primary school-aged children. With longer school days, mothers’ schedules are more compatible with higher quality jobs, leading to increased wages and household welfare.

Find out more in the PEP working paper 2020-07 and policy brief 202

Wage subsidies can encourage women’s formal employment in Zambia

Improving women’s empowerment is a priority for the Zambian government. Under the country’s development roadmap for 2017-2021, the number of women working in the formal sector has increased by 28.6% but is short of the 45% target by 2021. A team of local PEP researchers investigated whether a wage subsidy program can encourage women’s formal employment. They found that a wage subsidy to reduce the labour costs of employing women in formal employment can increase labour supply, household incomes and GDP at market prices. The subsidy also promotes women’s empowerment as their income and social benefits improve.

Find out more in the PEP working paper 2020-14 and policy brief 212