Household Vulnerability to Employment Shocks, 1997-1998

This paper studies the vulnerability of Filipino households to employment shocks that were brought on by the Asian financial crisis and the El Niño dry spells of 1997 and 1998. Using a panel data set of households culled from eight consecutive quarters of the Labor Force Surveys and the 1997 Family Income and Expenditures Survey, it explores the correlates of employment-shock vulnerability from among a select set of household characteristics. It finds that the factors affecting vulnerability are different in different quarters. Moreover, the statistically significant variables are different for male and female workers.