Informal Workers

Covering the informal economy to achieve universal social protection

Alix Machiels's picture
Submitted by Alix Machiels
on Fri, 12/05/2023 - 13:29
Woman holding her baby and showing an assistance card.
Written by Alix Machiels and Maria Aman, International Labour Organization (ILO). In April 2023, a technical exchange brought together experts and practitioners to share experiences and lessons learned from the extension of social protection to workers in the informal economy. Co-organized by the Global Partnership to achieve universal social protection (USP2030) and the EU funded Social Protection and Public Finance Management (SP&PFM) Programme , the event showcased country experiences on extension strategies to lift barriers to coverage. Discussions highlighted the need to promote transitions to formality, in alignment with key principles of solidarity and collective financing. Watch the recordings and access resources and materials here . The majority of those...Read more

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Exploring a fairer and more inclusive social protection paradigm for the world’s informal workers

Laura Alfers's picture
Submitted by Laura Alfers
on Fri, 12/05/2023 - 13:26
Garbage collector holding plastic bottles
Written by Laura Alfers and Florian Juergens-Grant, Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) Global frameworks and the widely recognized importance of social protection during the COVID-19 crisis have generated momentum toward the realization of Universal Social Protection (USP). At a global level, the Social Protection Floors (SPF) and USP frameworks, which are grounded in human rights principles, International Labour Standards and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), provide a key set of principles and actions that should underpin the extension of social protection to all, including workers in informal employment. They call for the development of social protection systems that are based on rights and provide protection for throughout the life...Read more

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This brief was prepared by André F. Bongestabs and Suravi Bhandary based on the technical note produced by Pierre Plamondon, Senior Actuary, with the support of ILO’s Actuarial Services Unit, as part of the technical support provided by the ILO to the Social Security Fund of Nepal. The brief discusses various considerations that needs to be placed during the design and implementation of contribution-based social security for workers in the informal economy and self-employment.

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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.

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World Bank’s Push for Individual Savings Provides Little Protection for Crisis-hit Workers

Florian Juergens-Grant's picture
Submitted by Florian Juergens-Grant
on Wed, 06/04/2022 - 09:25
Image shows quote from programme recipient: "World Bank's push for individual savings provide little protection for crisis-hit workers".
This blog post was originally published by WIEGO's website . Please check it here . The blog is also available in Spanish and French . Both savings and social protection systems are important, and, on some level, they respond to similar needs: they can help us navigate uncertain futures, stabilise consumption across financial peaks and troughs, and enable us to invest in all kinds of opportunities. Yet, it is important to insist that they are not the same and follow very different principles. Emphasising one over the other has important consequences for equity and income security. In this light, a recently launched report by the World Bank that provides guidance on how to expand Social Protection...Read more

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Social Protection for Informal Workers in The Bahamas: Government Covid-19 Response and Future Possibilities

Dwaneisha McGregor's picture
Submitted by Dwaneisha McGregor
on Fri, 07/01/2022 - 14:55
Image shows a female working on a food tent in a street market.
Social protection systems are designed to assist citizens from the effects of adverse situations related to life course, illness and disability, income loss, and work hazards. However, while some groups are able to access programmes, such as cash transfers, there are other groups who are left unprotected from shocks, work-related risks, and precarious life events. They also remain unassisted in old age, and other vulnerable stages over the timespan of their life. The reason for this lack of coverage is that some groups do not meet the conditionalities associated with state assistance and programmes. The social safety net that governments propose, for instance, cash transfers to be, does not catch the fall of all vulnerable groups and thus many slip through the conditional gaps. Covid-19...Read more

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Child Care Services and Women’s Work

Cyrus Afshar's picture
Submitted by Cyrus Afshar
on Wed, 25/08/2021 - 13:19
Street vendor has a child on her arms.
This blog summarises the exchanges and key messages raised by the expert panel at the webinar ‘‘ Child Care Services and Women’s Work ’’, held on 20 May 2021 and organised by WIEGO, Nelson Mandela Foundation, ECDAN, PSI, and IDWF. If you missed the webinar or want to watch it again, you can find the recording of the event here and the presentation here . Introduction The crisis in child care provision was evident prior to the pandemic. The World Bank’s recent report on child care estimates that 350 million children did not have access to child care services. Nearly 8 out of 10 of these children live in low or lower-middle-income countries. When we refer to child care we mean centre-based or home-based care provided for children between the ages 0 to 3 years old aimed at...Read more

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Join IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and ILO Director General Guy Ryder for a virtual conversation about recent developments in the informal economy on Friday, July 23 at 09:00 a.m. (ET). More than 60 percent of the world’s adult labor force, or about 2 billion workers, operate in the informal economy.

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Informal employment, defined through the lack of employment-based social protection, constitutes the bulk of employment in developing countries, and entails a level of vulnerability to poverty and other risks that are borne by all who are dependent on informal work income. Results from the Key Indicators of Informality based on Individuals and their Households database (KIIbIH) show that a disproportionately large number of middle‑class informal economy workers receive remittances.

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