poverty (below the median per capita income) and about a third out of poverty (above the median).

Between a quarter and half of all transitions take place within the same occupation category.<sup>6</sup>

**Table 6: Occupational Transition Matrices by Occupation**

||**Poor formal**<br>**salaried**|**Non-poor**<br>**formal**<br>**salaried**|**Poor informal**<br>**salaried**|**Non-poor**<br>**informal**<br>**salaried**|**Poor formal**<br>**self-**<br>**employed**|**Non-poor**<br>**formal self-**<br>**employed**<br>**Labor stat**|**Poor informal**<br>**self-**<br>**employed**<br>**us in 2009****|<br>**Non-poor**<br>**informal self-**<br>**employed**|**Poor**<br>**unemployed**|**Non-poor**<br>**unemployed**|**Poor out-of-**<br>**labor force**|<br>**Non-poor out-**<br>**of-labor force**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Poor formal salaried**|**37.3**|29.2|9.9|4.5|0.0|0.4|3.3|1.0|4.1|0.6|8.1|1.6|
|**Non-poor formal salaried**|8.3|**56.3**|1.7|6.6|0.1|0.9|1.2|3.6|3.1|2.0|8.0|8.2|
|**Poor informal salaried**<br>*****|6.3|7.0|**26.4**|11.5|0.4|0.2|13.4|5.9|8.0|0.7|15.7|4.5|
|**Non-poor informal salaried**<br>**008**|2.0|19.0|4.9|**26.4**|0.3|1.4|5.3|10.5|3.6|3.6|10.8|12.1|
|**Poor formal self-employed**<br>**n 2**|2.8|11.1|2.8|5.6|**0.0**|11.1|22.2|19.4|2.8|0.0|16.7|5.6|
|**Non-poor formal self-employed**<br>**us i**|0.0|12.3|0.9|6.6|3.8|**17.9**|11.3|35.9|1.9|0.9|2.8|5.7|
|**Poor informal self-employed**<br>**tat**|1.5|2.1|8.8|6.0|0.6|0.6|**36.9**|16.5|4.6|0.8|19.0|2.8|
|**Non-poor informal self-employed**<br>**or s**|0.0|3.7|2.0|11.6|0.5|1.8|13.7|**42.6**|2.3|1.9|8.5|11.6|
|**Poor unemployed**<br>**Lab**|3.2|5.2|9.0|7.7|0.0|0.3|10.0|4.2|**19.5**|6.0|26.2|8.7|
|**Non-poor unemployed**<br>|0.6|16.3|3.0|7.8|0.0|0.6|1.8|10.2|9.6|**9.6**|10.8|29.5|
|**Poor out-of-labor force**|0.6|1.3|2.5|2.1|0.1|0.1|3.9|2.5|4.4|0.7|**62.8**|18.9|
|**Non-poor out-of-labor force**|0.1|2.1|0.7|2.7|0.1|0.2|1.1|4.1|1.3|2.3|25.5|**59.8**|

Source: Authors’ estimates from Fedesarrollo (2008, 2009) FSLS.

> (*) 50<sup>th</sup> percentile of household per capita income distribution in 2009: COP 883,000 (**) 50<sup>th</sup> percentile in 2008: COP 850,999.

We further investigate how personal characteristics and circumstances affect labor transitions. Some 40 percent of labor transitions between 2008 and 2009 took place among individuals age 35 and 64, and twothirds between 19 and 64 (Table 7). Females were more likely to transition than men (including transitions into unemployment and out of the labor force), and three-quarters of those transitioning had up to secondary education. Interestingly, one-third of individuals transitioning were household heads, while another third were their offspring. Marital status did not seem to strongly affect the likelihood of transitions: married and cohabitating individuals reported a similar proportion than single, divorced,

> 6 Appendix 2 reports the results of an alternative socioeconomic disaggregated transition analysis using the official poverty line estimated by MESEP (2010). The key results on volume and asymmetry of transitions do not change with the official definition of poverty, although there is an increase in relative terms of transitions into poor informal self-employed, poor informal salaried and poor formal salaried, and a decrease in transitions into non-poor informal self-employed, non-poor informal salaried and non-poor formal salaried.

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