Enforcement and Compliance in Lima's Street Markets: The Origins and Consequences of Policy Incoherence toward Informal Traders

informal economy, taxation, law, government policy

Informal Workers See a Long Road to Recovery Ahead — Unless Governments Act

Data from the first round of the study shows the following common patterns across worker groups and continents: 1. Workers experienced a sudden and massive drop in earnings, which had severe consequences for workers and their households. 2. The reach of emergency cash transfers and food relief in the initial months of the crisis was limited and uneven. 3. Workers have resorted to coping strategies that erode any assets they may have accumulated, leaving a long road to recovery ahead

Recognition, Responsiveness and Reciprocity: What Informal Worker Leaders Expect from the State, the Private Sector and Themselves

More than a year after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, evidence continues to accumulate that its economic impact has disproportionately hit vulnerable populations (OECD 2020). In the world of work, the most severe impact has been felt by workers who lack income security, contracts and access to basic protections, all of which are prevalent conditions in the informal economy. According to estimates compiled by the ILO (2020), workers globally lost $3.5 trillion during the first three-quarters of 2020 as a result of the pandemic, and workers in informal employment—particularly women (Azcona et al. 2020, Lakshmi Ratan et al. 2020)—have been especially vulnerable to income loss and poverty during the crisis

COVID-19 and Informal Work in 11 Cities: Recovery Pathways Amidst Continued Crisis

The majority of the global workforce – 61% – is informal and has been disproportionately impacted by measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and by the accompanying economic downturn. The focus on aggregate job and livelihood losses masks the multiple drivers behind these losses that are leaving labour markets in general, but particularly in developing countries, without a viable path to recovery. The global informal workforce is diverse, and understanding experiences of workers in different contexts and sectors is required to design effective recovery policies. This Working Paper reflects the findings from the longitudinal study of nearly 2,000 informal workers in 11 cities around the world. Surveys and in-depth interviews were conducted with domestic workers, home-based workers, street vendors and market traders, and waste pickers in mid-2020 and then again in mid-2021. The findings reveal the differentiated pathways of impact and thus recovery for different groups of informal workers approximately a year and a half into the pandemic. The study shows that the economic fallout of the COVID-19 crisis remains deep and persistent for workers at the base of the economy

Informal Governance and Organizational Success: The Effects of Noncompliance among Lima’s Street Vending Organizations

The successful representation of poor people on the part of membership based organizations depends partly on internal governance structures that are responsive to members’ needs and aspirations. Among organizations of informal workers, members depend on their leaders to channel their demands and influence government policies that affect their livelihoods. Yet not all organizations of informal workers have successfully achieved such influence. This paper examines twelve organizations of street vendors in Lima, Peru, and assesses their ability to achieve organizational ‘success.’ It suggests that a lack of compliance with internal governance rules and procedures has kept their successes limited. Informal governance practices within organizations can reduce leaders’ accountability and credibility in the eyes of the membership; increase the incentives for members to exit the organization in favor of forming new ones; and damage the credibility of leaders in the eyes of external actors, most importantly the policy makers who have a profound influence on poor people’s lives.Informal Governance and Organizational Success: Th

Evidence Review of Covid-19 and Women’s Informal Employment: A Call to Support the Most Vulnerable First in the Economic Recovery

More than a year has elapsed since COVID-19 plunged the world into uncertainty. Month after month, cascades of reports continue to expose the pandemic’s devastating and widespread impact on women’s livelihoods. Women the world over have been impacted, yet women in informal employment, with little to no social and labour protections, have been disproportionately ravaged. In low- and lower-middle income countries, informal employment is the norm for women. In Africa and India, roughly 90 percent of employed women are informal workers. According to one India study, in the wake of COVID-19, 83 percent of women informal workers faced a severe income drop, with half relying on grants for food security. Similarly, an April 2020 survey covering 12 cities around the world conducted by Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO), a global network focused on women in informal employment, found that during the peak COVID-19 lockdown period in each city, women informal workers’ earnings, on average, were only about 20 percent of their pre-COVID-19 levels (compared with men who were earning about 25 percent of their prepandemic earnings).Bill and Melinda Gates Foundatio

COVID-19 and Informal Work: Evidence From 11 cities

This article presents the findings for 11 cities across five geographical regions from a study led by Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing, investigating the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on different groups of informal workers and their households. Detailing impacts on work and income, food and hunger, care and other household responsibilities, and on the coping strategies of informal worker households, the article also compares the roles of government and informal worker organizations in providing relief and other support. Based on worker demands, the authors present guiding principles for a better deal for informal workers going forward