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With research staff from more than 70 countries, and offices across the globe, IFPRI provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.

researcher spotlight

Timothy Thomas

Timothy Thomas is a Senior Research Fellow in the Foresight and Policy Modeling Unit. His research focuses on the impact of climate change on agricultural productivity. Tim’s work involves developing innovative methods for simulated climate futures and model coordination between climate, crop, water, energy, and economics.

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Development Strategies and Governance

Basma Yassa

Senior Research Associate

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Basma Yassa

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Basma Yassa is a Senior Research Associate with the Development Strategies and Governance Unit, and is based at IFPRI-Cairo.

Egypt Strategy Support Program

Development Strategies and Governance

Publications

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Brief

Gendered work norms in Egypt: Evidence on preferences and social perceptions

2025Allen IV, James; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Kurdi, Sikandra; Shokry, Nada; Yassa, Basma
Details

Gendered work norms in Egypt: Evidence on preferences and social perceptions

We examine the nature and scope of gendered work norms in Egypt using new experimental evidence from a household survey. Societal norms around work, care responsibilities and the types of jobs women and men can hold can have a profound effect on gender differences in employment, earnings and life satisfaction. Indeed, while lack of childcare and secure transportation remain widely cited constraints to women’s employment in low-income settings, descriptive and experimental evidence also suggest that deeply rooted social norms about gender roles play a prominent role in driving the persistence of such barriers and in how households evaluate women’s work. Norms emphasizing men as primary breadwinners and women as primary caregivers shape both economic decisions and perceptions of behavior in ways that may limit women’s labor force participation even when opportunities exist. We implement three survey-based experiments among economically disadvantaged households to elucidate these norms and measure their salience. A wage‐comparison choice experiment shows that households strongly prefer that men—not women—take on additional paid work, even when this preference entails substantial forgone income for the household. When offered identical wages for equal hours of work, only 12.4 percent of respondents select the wife to take it as a first part-time job versus the husband taking it as a second part-time job. Even when her wage is double that of her husband, a clear majority still prefer that the husband works instead. These results indicate a large implicit cost that households place on women working outside the household. Two randomized vignette experiments further demonstrate that identical actions are interpreted differently depending on whether they are performed by men or women. Men who take on a second job to support their financially struggling household are widely viewed as more competent and more moral, whereas perceptions of women making the same choice are far more divided. Perceptions of workplace effort are broadly similar across genders, with small differences appearing only in perceptions of morality. Together, these findings emphasize the strength of gendered work norms in Egypt and reveal nuance in how they shape behavior. The findings also underscore the relevance of gender norms for designing programs affecting household work decisions and testing new approaches to promote women’s economic inclusion.

Year published

2025

Authors

Allen IV, James; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Kurdi, Sikandra; Shokry, Nada; Yassa, Basma

Citation

Allen IV, James; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Kurdi, Sikandra; Shokry, Nada; and Yassa, Basma. 2025. Gendered work norms in Egypt: Evidence on preferences and social perceptions. IFPRI Project Note. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/178587

Country/Region

Egypt

Keywords

Africa; Northern Africa; Middle East; Gender Norms; Women; Social Structure; Labour

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Record type

Brief

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Working Paper

Would you rather? Household choice between cash transfers or an economic inclusion program

2024Allen IV, James; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Kurdi, Sikandra; Yassa, Basma
Details

Would you rather? Household choice between cash transfers or an economic inclusion program

We study households’ choice between continued cash transfers and a new economic inclusion program—two global prevalent social protection programs—offered by the Egyptian government. Lower-than-expected early adoption of the new program is correlated with differing perceptions on its design. We randomize official messaging to households describing the new program’s (i) consumption support duration and (ii) income-earning potential. Both treatments increase respondents’ likelihood of recommending the new program. A theoretical model estimated using households’ perceptions of program design predicts interest in the new program, and how it diminishes with increasing effort costs, asset loss probability, risk aversion and loss aversion.

Year published

2024

Authors

Allen IV, James; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Kurdi, Sikandra; Yassa, Basma

Citation

Allen IV, James; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Kurdi, Sikandra; and Yassa, Basma. 2024. Would you rather: Voluntary take-up of a poverty graduation program among cash transfer recipients. MENA Working Paper 44. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/158340

Country/Region

Egypt

Keywords

Africa; Northern Africa; Social Protection; Poverty; Poverty Reduction; Cash Transfers

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Record type

Working Paper

Resource thumbnail

Brief

Challenges for private sector job matching in rural Egypt: Results from a survey of Forsa employers

2024Shokry, Nada; Yassa, Basma; Kurdi, Sikandra
Details

Challenges for private sector job matching in rural Egypt: Results from a survey of Forsa employers

Increasing formal employment for youth and women is a key goal of the Forsa pilot graduation intervention and Egyptian government policy in general. As detailed in Forsa evaluation reports, matching Takaful beneficiaries with jobs in the private sector is a major challenge on the household and on the beneficiary level. In this policy note, however, we examine the challenges from the perspective of potential employers. We review literature of the market failures that may contribute to difficulties with job matching in rural Egypt and present results from a small telephone survey of Forsa employers.

Year published

2024

Authors

Shokry, Nada; Yassa, Basma; Kurdi, Sikandra

Citation

Shokry, Nada; Yassa, Basma; and Kurdi, Sikandra. 2024. Challenges for private sector job matching in rural Egypt: Results from a survey of Forsa employers. MENA Regional Program Policy Note 25. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/159533

Country/Region

Egypt

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Northern Africa; Employment; Rural Areas; Women; Youth

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

National Policies and Strategies

Record type

Brief

Events

Evidence for Action: Advancing Food Systems, Resilience, and Inclusive Growth in Egypt and the MENA Region
IFPRI Program/Country Event

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November 25, 2026, 9:00 – 2:00 pm

Evidence for Action: Advancing Food Systems, Resilience, and Inclusive Growth in Egypt and the MENA Region

This event is by invitation only. For questions or inquiries about attending, please contact the IFPRI Egypt office at (IFPRI-Egypt@cgiar.org). Across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), food systems and livelihoods face mounting pressures from economic uncertainty, climate change, resource constraints, and conflict. In Egypt, ongoing economic reforms, food security challenges, and efforts to […]

Three Years of Conflict: What the Evidence Tells Us and What Recovery Requires
Series/Special Event

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April 14 to 15, 2026

Three Years of Conflict: What the Evidence Tells Us and What Recovery Requires

April 2026 marks three years since the outbreak of the conflict in Sudan, which has severely disrupted economic activity, food systems, and social services. More than half of the country’s population is in need of assistance, and communities, markets, and institutions are under unprecedented pressure.

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