However, in Kazakhstan, it is closely associated with poverty and lower income levels (World Bank, 2016b). While unemployment rates are relatively low and do not vary much across Kazakhstan’s monotowns, self-employment may be a more appropriate indicator for identifying monotowns with a depressed labour market.43 A high level of self-employment is highly correlated with lower average wages across Kazakhstan’s monotowns44 and urban areas as a whole. The 27 monotowns accounted for 14% of Kazakhstan’s urban population at the beginning of 2016, but almost 19% of the urban population in 1999.