Economic Empowerment of Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Liberia 2010
Liberia, 2010
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LBR_2010_EPAG-BL_v01_M
Economic Empowerment of Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Liberia 2010
Baseline Survey
| Name | Country code |
|---|---|
| Liberia | LBR |
Impact Evaluation Study
EPAG was launched in 2008 as part of the World Bank’s Adolescent Girls Initiative (AGI) and is implemented by the Government of Liberia with financial support from the Nike Foundation and the Government of Denmark. The Liberian Ministry of Gender & Development (MoGD) leads EPAG implementation and coordination with a team of service providers.
The goal of the Impact Evaluation of the Economic Empowerment of Adolescent Girls (EPAG) is to provide 2500 young Liberian women with livelihood and life skills training and facilitate their transition to productive work. Data collected during the baseline survey provide a comprehensive socioeconomic profile of the 2008 young women who applied for and met the eligibility requirements for the EPAG program in June/July 2010.
The purpose of the baseline survey is twofold: (i) to benchmark the socioeconomic status of each study participant as a measure of comparison against the midline and endline survey data; and (ii) to investigate the validity of the treatment and control groups, confirming that there are no, or few, statistically significant differences in observable characteristics between the treatment and control groups.
The program consists of six-months of classroom training followed by six-months of placement and support (including micro-enterprise advisory services and internship and job placement assistance). Girls are trained in business development skills (BDS) and or job skills (JS) targeted to sectors with high demand for workers. In Round 1, 65% of trainees received Business Development Skills Training (BDS) and 35% were trained in Job Skills (JS). All JS trainees also receive training in entrepreneurship skills. All participants receive life skills training specifically designed for Liberian girls.
Sample survey data [ssd]
This study describes:
-
Households
-
Individuals
Version
- v0.1: Edited anonymous dataset for public distribution
Scope
The scope of the study includes:
HOUSEHOLD:
- Main Characteristics of Household Members
- Education Status
- Income Generating Activities
- Expectations for Young Household Members
- Expectations for Young Household Members (Continued)
- Expectations for Young Household Members: Business Opportunities
- Marriage
- Relationships of Young Household Members
- General Opinions on Marriage, Gender Responsibilities and Children
- Ownership and Assets
- Housing, Water and Sanitation
- Savings, Loans and Borrowing
- Expenditures
- Food Consumption and Shortages
INDIVIDUALS:
- Demographic and Education Characteristics
- Time Use
- Income Generation Activities
- Past Income Generation Practices
- Future Income Generation Plans
- Current Business Ownership
- Qualities and Behaviours To Be Successful In Business
- Financial Knowledge and Practices
- Savings and Loans
- Expenditures and Transfers
- Ownership and Assets
- Empowerment
- Worries, Hopes, Confidence and Expectations
- Relationships and Family
- Social Networks
- Personal Behaviours And Relationships
- Sexual Behaviours And Hiv & Aids Awareness
Coverage
Nine communities in Greater Monrovia and Kakata City.
EPAG was originally targeted to young women who were:
i) between age 16 and 24;
ii) possessed basic literacy and numeracy skills;
iii) not in school (although night school was okay); and
iv) living in one of nine target communities in and around Monrovia.
Producers and sponsors
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Shubha Chakravarty | The World Bank - Africa Gender Innovation Lab |
Sampling
The EPAG impact evaluation employs a randomized pipeline research design in which recruits were randomly assigned to receive training in either Round 1 (March 2010 to February 2011) or Round 2 (July 2011 to June 2012). Impact is defined as the change in outcomes between the time the program starts and six months after the classroom training ends, as compared to a statistically similar control group (the Round 2 trainees). This control group is used to establish a "counterfactual" -a reasonable approximation of what would have happened to the Round 1 trainees had they not entered the program. 1273 girls were randomly selected to begin training in Round 1 (the treatment group).
The eligibility criteria stemmed from the project's objective to reach young women at an early enough age to alter the trajectory of their working years, to focus on girls who already had the basic literacy and numeracy skills needed to succeed in the labor market, and to avoid incentivizing anyone to drop out of school. However, recruitment—particularly for younger girls who were both not in school and literate—proved challenging and the age limit was raised to 27.
Of the 2,106 girls recruited for the project, 2,005 girls responded to the baseline survey (a response rate of 95.2%).
Survey instrument
Two instruments were developed for the EPAG baseline survey: one for the young women who were eligible for the program, and one for the head of the household in which she resided.
Data collection
| Start | End | Cycle |
|---|---|---|
| 2010-04-01 | 2010-05-01 | Baseline Survey |
Community mobilization campaigns began in September 2009 and trainee recruitment took place from December 2009 through January 2010 in all nine target communities.
Baseline data was collected on variables that could potentially change as a result of program participation. A variety of variables were measured in order to investigate the hypothesis that this investment in young women would improve, not only their employment and earnings, but also non-economic outcomes and the economic situation of their families. Data was also collected on time-invariant characteristics, such as ethnic group or childhood experiences, that are likely to influence a respondent's socioeconomic status regardless of program participation.
Data was collected in face-to-face interviews in each respondent's home. On average, it took 1 hour 52 minutes to administer the individual questionnaire and 1 hour 24 minutes to survey the household. Respondents were assured of the confidentiality of their responses, and that they were free to stop at any time.
A total of 44 enumerators and five supervisors conducted the survey between January 25 and April 1, 2010.
Data processing
Data entry was conducted by trained clerks using CS-PRO software, and data analysis was conducted using SPSS and Stata.
Depositor information
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Brittany Nicole Hill | GTGDR - Global Theme Department - World bank |
Data Access
Use of the dataset must be acknowledged using a citation which would include:
- the Identification of the Primary Investigator
- the title of the survey (including country, acronym and year of implementation)
- the survey reference number
- the source and date of download
Example:
Shubha Chakravarty, The World Bank - Africa Gender Innovation Lab. Liberia - Economic Empowerment of Adolescent Girls and Young Women (EPAG) in Liberia 2010. Ref. LBR_2010_EPAG-BL_v01_M. Dataset downloaded from [URL] on [date].
Disclaimer and copyrights
The user of the data acknowledges that the original collector of the data, the authorized distributor of the data, and the relevant funding agency bear no responsibility for use of the data or for interpretations or inferences based upon such uses.
Contacts
| Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Shubha Chakravarty | World Bank | schakravarty@worldbank.org |