Fafo project: Education, skills, work experiences and work preferences of Syrians in Jordan (2017-2018)

The project aimed at collecting and analysing original survey data on Syrian refugees in Jordan, concentrating on living conditions and livelihoods, thereby supporting well-informed policy formulation on the part of the Jordanian government and other stakeholders.

More specifically, it was the project’s objective that new insights, generated through analysis of the data, should be used to support the development of labour force policies and the establishment of economic and livelihood projects related to the implementation of the Jordan Compact.

A national household sample survey was carried out by Jordan’s Department of Statistics (DoS) between November 2017 and January 2018.While sampling all Syrian nationals, the project’s main report concentrates on Syrian refugees and is based on information from 7,632 households and 40,950 individuals.

It presents findings for six geographic localities: Amman; Zarqa; Irbid; Mafraq; the other governorates taken together; and the refugee camps.

The report concludes that the circumstances of Syrian refugees in Jordan has improved significantly over time: educational enrolment is up, labour force participation rates are higher and unemployment lower, housing standards have improved and—reflecting a ‘normalization’ of life in displacement—the access to durable goods such as home appliances and consumer electronics are better.

However, living conditions and livelihoods in rural locations are generally inferior to those in urban centres and after up to seven years of displacement, a large fraction of the refugees lives in poverty and still relies on assistance and subsidised services.

The project was funded by the European Regional Development and Protection Programme for the Middle East (RDPP), a multi-donor initiative supported by the European Union, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.