Browse by sub-sector
Open all 268 in the libraryEmployment & Labor Market
Wage and self-employment, job placement, labor force participation, working conditions, and earnings, often measured against ILO labor statistics definitions.
Output
Outcome
Micro-enterprise & Self-Employment
Enterprise creation, survival, sales, profit, and employment generation among micro and small businesses and the self-employed.
Output
Goal
Financial Inclusion & Savings
Access to and use of accounts, savings, credit, insurance, and digital payments, including savings group participation and financial behavior.
Output
Goal
Value Chain Development
Producer participation in value chains, market access, prices and volumes sold, and upgrading within agricultural and non-agricultural chains.
Output
Goal
Skills & Vocational Training
Technical and vocational skills acquisition, certification, and the transition from training into employment or self-employment.
Output
Goal
Land & Property Rights
Tenure security, documented land and property rights, and access to and control over productive assets.
Output
Immediate Outcome
Other Livelihoods & Economic Strengthening sub-sectors
Smaller measurement areas in Livelihoods & Economic Strengthening, with a sample indicator from each.
Methods by outcome type
Match the method to the outcome, not to what is easiest to collect.
| Outcome type | Primary method | Observation | Key instruments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income & earnings | Household or individual economic survey with structured income and consumption modules | Not directly observable; reported and reconciled across sources | Multi-source income recall, consumption and expenditure modules, ILO labor income definitions |
| Employment & labor market status | Labor force survey using standard status and time-reference questions | Not required (self-reported against defined reference period) | ILO labor force survey concepts and decent work indicators (ILOSTAT) |
| Business performance | Enterprise survey of sales, profit, costs, assets, and survival over time | Records review preferred where available; recall common | Enterprise financial modules, DCED Standard results chains and indicators |
| Financial inclusion & savings | Demand-side survey of account ownership, use, savings, credit, and insurance | Not required (self-reported, supplemented by provider records where available) | World Bank Findex question wording, CGAP and FinEquity measurement guidance |
| Assets, poverty & resilience | Asset and poverty-likelihood survey, repeated over time | Asset inventory partly observable; poverty likelihood estimated | Poverty Probability Index (PPI), asset indices, WEAI for agricultural and gender dimensions |
| Market systems change | Systemic monitoring of behavior and performance change across market actors | Mixed methods; not a single survey instrument | DCED Standard results measurement, market actor surveys, transaction and price data |
Common evaluation questions
The questions that anchor design and data-collection decisions, grouped by cluster.
Employment & Labor Market
Did participants move into employment or better-quality work, relative to a comparison group?
Evidence: Labor force status and earnings measured at baseline and endline for participants and a comparison group, using ILO status definitions. Design: Outcome evaluation with comparison group (quasi-experimental or experimental).
Are jobs created or sustained consistent with decent work criteria, not just any work?
Evidence: Working conditions, contract status, and earnings measured against ILO decent work indicators. Design: Outcome evaluation.
Micro-enterprise & Self-Employment
Did supported enterprises improve sales, profit, or survival relative to comparable non-supported enterprises?
Evidence: Enterprise financial data (sales, profit, survival) for supported and comparison businesses over time. Design: Outcome evaluation with comparison group.
Did the program generate net new employment, accounting for displacement?
Evidence: Employment counts in supported enterprises with attention to whether gains displaced other local businesses. Design: Outcome evaluation; market-level analysis for displacement.
Financial Inclusion & Savings
Did account ownership and use of formal financial services change among the target population?
Evidence: Demand-side survey using Findex question wording at baseline and endline. Design: Outcome evaluation, before-and-after with comparison where feasible.
Are savings group members using savings in ways the program intended, and are groups functioning after support ends?
Evidence: Savings group records and member survey at program end and a follow-up point. Design: Implementation and sustainability evaluation.
Value Chain Development
Did producers increase market access, volumes sold, or prices received through the supported chain?
Evidence: Producer transaction data (volumes, prices, sales) tracked over time against a results chain. Design: Outcome evaluation; DCED Standard results measurement.
Did changes in the market system persist and reach beyond the directly supported actors?
Evidence: Market actor behavior and performance monitored for crowding-in and copying after the intervention. Design: Systemic change assessment.
Skills & Vocational Training
Did trainees transition into employment or self-employment aligned with their training?
Evidence: Tracer survey of trainees at defined intervals after course completion, with a comparison group where feasible. Design: Outcome evaluation, tracer study.
Was training delivered with the intended quality, content, and completion?
Evidence: Training records, completion and certification rates, and curriculum fidelity checks. Design: Implementation evaluation.
Land & Property Rights
Did the program increase documented tenure security for the target population?
Evidence: Survey of documented rights and perceived tenure security at baseline and endline. Design: Outcome evaluation, before-and-after.
Did improvements in tenure security extend to women and other groups with weaker baseline rights?
Evidence: Disaggregated tenure and control-over-assets data, including WEAI domains where agricultural. Design: Outcome evaluation with disaggregated analysis.
The standards that matter
Livelihoods and economic strengthening draws on several measurement communities rather than one master framework. Use the DCED Standard for results chains in private sector and market systems work, ILO labor statistics definitions for employment and decent work, the Global Findex and CGAP and FinEquity guidance for financial inclusion, and the PPI for poverty likelihood. For microfinance social performance use the Cerise+SPTF Universal Standards, and for crisis and recovery settings use the Minimum Economic Recovery Standards. Align indicator wording to these so your figures reconcile with recognized definitions.
DCED Standard for Results Measurement ↗
Industry framework for building and monitoring results chains in private sector development, market systems, and value chain programs.
ILOSTAT / ILO Labor Statistics ↗
International standards, concepts, and definitions for employment, labor force status, earnings, and decent work indicators.
World Bank Global Findex Database ↗
Demand-side survey and standardized question wording on account ownership, savings, credit, and digital payments.
CGAP ↗
Research and measurement guidance for financial inclusion, housed at the World Bank.
FinEquity ↗
CGAP-convened community of practice with measurement guidance on women’s financial inclusion.
Poverty Probability Index (PPI) ↗
Country-specific scorecard estimating the likelihood that a household lives below a poverty line; formerly the Progress out of Poverty Index.
Cerise+SPTF Universal Standards (SPI4) ↗
Social and environmental performance management standards and assessment tool for microfinance and inclusive finance providers.
SEEP Minimum Economic Recovery Standards (MERS) ↗
Consensus standards for designing, monitoring, and evaluating economic recovery programming in crisis-affected settings.
Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) ↗
IFPRI index measuring women’s empowerment, agency, and inclusion across domains in agricultural livelihoods.
Common mistakes to avoid
Claiming income or employment change without an attribution design
Earnings and jobs shift for many reasons. Stating that a program caused a change requires a comparison group or other credible counterfactual, not a before-and-after difference alone. Frame the claim around the evaluation design you actually used.
Using non-standard labor definitions
Reworded employment and labor force indicators break comparability with national and international data. Use ILO labor statistics concepts and reference periods so your figures align with ILOSTAT and labor force surveys.
Treating training completion as an employment outcome
Completion and certification are outputs. Employment and self-employment outcomes require a tracer survey after a defined interval, per standard tracer study practice, not enrollment or graduation counts.
Reporting enterprise gains without addressing displacement
Counting jobs or sales in supported businesses can overstate net effects if those gains displaced other local firms. Market systems guidance, including the DCED Standard, expects attention to displacement and systemic effects.
Mixing access and usage in financial inclusion indicators
Owning an account is not the same as using one. Findex and CGAP guidance distinguish access from active use; define which your indicator measures and use the standard question wording.
Skipping a recognized poverty measure when targeting the poor
Self-defined poverty categories are not comparable across programs. Use an established tool such as the PPI or a documented asset or consumption measure so targeting and outcome claims are defensible.
Frequently asked questions
How do I measure whether a livelihoods program raised participant income?
Measure income carefully and interpret it with an evaluation design. Income is hard to capture and hard to attribute, so collect it from multiple sources (wages, self-employment, sales) using consistent reference periods, and compare participants to a comparison group rather than relying on a before-and-after difference alone. State the design you used so reviewers can judge the attribution claim. Where direct income is unreliable, a poverty-likelihood measure such as the PPI or an asset index can supplement it.
What employment indicators should I use for a donor proposal?
Use ILO labor statistics definitions for labor force status, employment, and earnings, with the standard reference period, so your figures align with national labor force surveys and ILOSTAT. Where the program targets job quality, draw on ILO decent work indicators rather than counting any work as a success. Define the numerator, denominator, and data source for each indicator.
How should I measure financial inclusion outcomes?
Distinguish access from use. Use World Bank Findex question wording for account ownership, savings, credit, insurance, and digital payments so your data is comparable to national and global benchmarks. For active use and for women’s financial inclusion, draw on CGAP and FinEquity guidance. For savings group programs, combine group records with a member survey, and check whether groups keep functioning after support ends.
How do I evaluate a value chain or market systems program?
Use the DCED Standard for Results Measurement to articulate the results chain and monitor change at producer and market-actor levels. Track volumes, prices, and sales over time, and look beyond directly supported actors for systemic effects such as crowding-in and copying. Watch for displacement so that gains in supported firms are not mistaken for net market growth.
Which standards should a livelihoods M&E plan reference?
It depends on the program. For private sector and market systems work, use the DCED Standard. For employment and earnings, use ILO labor statistics. For financial inclusion, use Findex and CGAP and FinEquity guidance, with Cerise+SPTF Universal Standards for microfinance social performance. For poverty targeting, use the PPI. In crisis and recovery settings, use the Minimum Economic Recovery Standards. For agricultural livelihoods with a gender dimension, the WEAI is the standard instrument.