Simplified Taxation in Africa: What We Know – and Need to Know
- Authors: Gallien, Max , Hoy, Christopher , Komatsu, Hitomi , Ozer, Ceren , Rogan, Michael , Van den Boogaard, Vanessa
- Date: 2025
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478250 , vital:78168 , DOI: 10.19088/ICTD.2025.012
- Description: Most economic operators in Africa are small and informal firms that fall under the purview of presumptive or simplified tax regimes (STRs). These taxes are expected to fulfil a range of functions, from raising revenue to facilitating formalisation and improving revenue authorities' data, and yet their effectiveness and impact are surprisingly under-researched. Meanwhile, emerging evidence suggests that STRs often raise little revenue, disproportionately impact low-income earners, and are inconsistently applied. This policy brief summarises what we know about simplified taxes in Africa, who pays them, and why they matter, while highlighting gaps in existing knowledge. It makes the argument that there is a need for a new policy conversation on simplified taxation, and one that is data-driven and evidence-based.
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The taxed informal economy: Fiscal burdens and inequality in Accras
- Authors: Anyidoho, Nana A , Gallien, Max , Rogan, Michael , Van den Boogaard, Vanessa
- Date: 2025
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478095 , vital:78154 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2024.106879
- Description: The common assumption that informal economies are untaxed has underpinned arguments that they represent an ‘untapped goldmine’ for government coffers. However, there has been limited empirical engagement with this assumption. While some studies have highlighted that many informal businesses pay both formal and informal taxes, there has been little systematic accounting of these payments. Using a novel dataset of 2,700 informal enterprises in the Accra metropolitan area in Ghana, this article presents the first geographically representative account of the nature, distribution and impact of taxation in an urban informal sector. We find that the majority of informal sector operators in this context pay a range of taxes and fees, which together amount to a significant burden, especially for low earners. Two key findings emerge in relation to the structure of these taxes. First, the incidence and burden of tax payments is highly uneven and strongly correlated with visibility to the state, suggesting that taxation is driven more by patterns of state enforcement than the choices of informal operators. Second, taxes and fees are highly regressive, with lower-earning operators paying significantly more in relation to their earnings. These findings have important implications for both our conception of informal businesses and efforts to tax informal businesses in low- and middle-income countries.
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The taxed informal economy: Fiscal burdens and inequality in Accras
- Authors: Anyidoho, Nana A , Gallien, Max , Rogan, Michael , Van den Boogaard, Vanessa
- Date: 2025
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478084 , vital:78153 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2024.106879
- Description: The common assumption that informal economies are untaxed has underpinned arguments that they represent an ‘untapped goldmine’ for government coffers. However, there has been limited empirical engagement with this assumption. While some studies have highlighted that many informal businesses pay both formal and informal taxes, there has been little systematic accounting of these payments. Using a novel dataset of 2,700 informal enterprises in the Accra metropolitan area in Ghana, this article presents the first geographically representative account of the nature, distribution and impact of taxation in an urban informal sector. We find that the majority of informal sector operators in this context pay a range of taxes and fees, which together amount to a significant burden, especially for low earners. Two key findings emerge in relation to the structure of these taxes. First, the incidence and burden of tax payments is highly uneven and strongly correlated with visibility to the state, suggesting that taxation is driven more by patterns of state enforcement than the choices of informal operators. Second, taxes and fees are highly regressive, with lower-earning operators paying significantly more in relation to their earnings. These findings have important implications for both our conception of informal businesses and efforts to tax informal businesses in low- and middle-income countries.
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A Modern Guide to the Informal Economy, by Colin C. Williams
- Authors: Rogan, Michael
- Date: 2024
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/473700 , vital:77674 , https://ilr-rit.org/article/id/19385/
- Description: Colin C. Williams’ new book, A Modern Guide to the Informal Economy, offers a timely analysis of a segment of the global workforce that has received increasing atten tion in recent years. A range of different measures suggest that, globally, the vast majority (61 per cent) of all employment is informal.1 Once thought to be exclusive to labour markets in middle- and low-income countries, the rise of platform work and the gig economy in the economies of developed countries has spurred new inter est in the subject. Similarly, the uneven effects of the pandemic and its aftermath have drawn unprecedented attention to the resultant economic and social crisis, which has disproportionately affected workers in the informal economy.2 Using the most internationally comparable definition of the informal economy as comprising all workers without legal or social protection through their employment,3 the recent pandemic and continuing economic crisis has left the bulk of the global workforce without a safety net. Such a “moment” naturally raises questions about the structure of employment, the role and reach of social protection programmes and the policy options available in countries where informal employment is the norm.
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COVID-19 and Informal Work: Degrees and Pathways of Impact in 11 Cities around the World
- Authors: Chen, Martha A , Grapsa, Erofili , Ismail, Ghida , Reed, Sarah O , Rogan, Michael , Valdivia, Marcela
- Date: 2024
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/473883 , vital:77690 , 10.1093/oso/9780198887041.001.0001
- Description: In May 2018, the International Labour Organization (ILO) published the first ever global estimates of informal employment. These global estimates show that 61 per cent of all workers worldwide are informally employed—a total of two billion workers (Bonnet et al. 2019: 4; ILO 2018: 13). They also show that the rate of informal employment is highest in developing countries (at 90 per cent), lowest in developed countries (at 18 per cent), and quite significant in emerging countries (at 67 per cent) (Bonnet et al. 2019: 4; ILO 2018: 14).
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COVID-19 and the Informal Economy: Impact, Recovery, and the Future
- Authors: Chen, Martha A , Rogan, Michael , Sen, Kunal
- Date: 2024
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/473905 , vital:77692 , ISBN 9780198887041 , 10.1093/oso/9780198887041.001.0001
- Description: A key challenge for the post-COVID-19 global economy is whether the disproportionate impact of the crisis on informal workers, who form the majority of the world’s workforce, will be acknowledged. Or whether harmful and negative stereotypes will persist. Today, despite the role of these essential frontline workers — producing, processing, selling, cooking and delivering food, providing cleaning, childcare, eldercare, healthcare, transport, waste removal, and other essential services — many observers consider the informal economy to be non-compliant (resisting registration and taxation) and associate it with low productivity (a drag on the economy) or with crime (illegal activities) and grime (blight on modern cities). Yet, most informal workers are working poor trying to earn an honest living in often hostile environments. Most suffered severe declines in work and earnings during successive waves of the COVID pandemic, and related restrictions and recessions, and have gone deeper into debt and depleted their savings and assets in order to survive. This book explores and informs answers to that key challenge. It presents findings on the impact of the COVID crisis on informal workers in Asia, Africa and North and Latin America. The chapters of the volume analyse the impact of the COVID crisis on informal workers, interrogate whether and which economic recovery plans and schemes include informal workers and explore what a more inclusive economic recovery and reforms might look like.
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Gendered labour market outcomes among South African technical and vocational education and training (TVET) completers
- Authors: Friderichs, Tamaryn J , Rogan, Michael , Needham, Seamus
- Date: 2024
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/470853 , vital:77401 , https://doi.org/10.14426/jovacet.v7i2.417
- Description: South Africa's post-school education and training (PSET) system plays an important role in addressing historical inequalities and preparing youth for the labour market. Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges have seen rising female enrolment, including in traditionally male-dominated fields like Engineering. This study examines whether women's increased participation in TVET programmes translates into equal labour market opportunities. Using administrative enrolment data and a tracer study of TVET completers, findings show that female completers face significantly higher unemployment rates than men, unrelated to the over-representation in Business Studies or services programmes. Additionally, women earn 22% less than men, even after accounting for study choices and qualification levels. While challenges remain in ensuring gender parity, the increasing presence of women in male-dominated fields signals progress. Efforts must focus on translating these gains into equitable employment outcomes.
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South Africa’s Informal Economy and COVID-19. COVID-19 and the Informal Economy
- Authors: Rogan, Michael , Skinner, Catherine
- Date: 2024
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478007 , vital:78146 , ISBN 9780198887041 , 10.1093/oso/9780198887041.001.0001
- Description: Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been recognized that informal workers would be among the most severely affected (ILO 2020). This is a departure from the past, where it has often been assumed that the informal sector absorbs jobs which have been lost in the formal sector due to greater flexibility in the ability to respond to downturns and to make adjustments at the intensive margins (Ohnsorge and Yu 2021; Verick 2010). However, not only is the current crisis fairly unique in the way it has impacted on labour markets in particular and economies in general, but also the effects of the crisis have been experienced most acutely in the sectors of the labour market in which women, young people, and informalworkersaremostheavilyconcentrated.Togetherwithawell-documented gendered component to the crisis (Alon et al. 2020), this has meant that informal economies in middle- and low-income countries have been left exposed and with few resources to recover. The fact that the majority of employment in these economies is informal (ILO 2018; Ohnsorge and Yu 2021) then translates into a vicious cycle of reduced demandandlimitedfiscalspacetostimulatetheeconomy (Mhlana et al. 2023).
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The Price of Simplicity: Skewed and Regressive Taxation in Accra’s Informal Sector
- Authors: Anyidoho, Nana A , Gallien, Max , Rogan, Michael , Van den Boogaard, Vanessa
- Date: 2024
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478073 , vital:78152 , ISBN , DOI: 10.19088/ICTD.2024.044
- Description: International and domestic policymakers have long assumed that informal economies represent an ‘untapped goldmine’ for government coffers. While recent research has highlighted that many informal businesses do pay a range of formal and informal taxes, there has, to date, been little systematic account of their tax burdens. Using a novel dataset of 2,700 informal enterprises in the Accra metropolitan area, we explore the nature and impact of taxation in the informal sector. We find that the majority of informal sector operators pay a range of taxes and fees, which together amount to a significant burden, especially for low earners. These payments are skewed and regressive. Two additional findings emerge in relation to the structure of these taxes. First, the incidence and burden of tax payments is strongly correlated with visibility to the state. Second, taxes and fees are highly regressive, with lower-earning operators paying significantly more in relation to their earnings. These findings have important implications for efforts to tax informal businesses in low- and middle- income countries. The regressivity of efforts to tax the informal sector is often framed as a price worth paying for simplicity. Our study provides both an estimation of this ‘price’, and an underlying argument for collecting this kind of data on taxation of informal enterprises in order to assess real policy impacts.
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What Is Missing from National Economic Recovery Plans? COVID-19 and the Informal Economy
- Authors: Mhlana, Siviwe , Moussié, Rachel , Roever, Sally , Rogan, Michael
- Date: 2024
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478139 , vital:78158 , ISBN 9780198887041 , 10.1093/oso/9780198887041.001.0001
- Description: At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the first half of 2020, there was nearuniversal acknowledgement that employment losses, globally, would be borne disproportionately by vulnerable workers, in general, and informal workers, in particular (ILO 2020a). Of the world’s 2.2 billion informal workers, it was estimated that 1.6 billion would be among the most severely affected by job losses and reduced working hours (ILO 2020b). The result of this impact has been the reversal of decades of progress in human development. For example, the number of people living in extreme poverty in emerging markets and developing economies was expected to increase by 100 million by the end of 2021 (World Bank 2021a). Similarly, the gendered burden of job losses has threatened progress towards gender equality, as evidenced by the highly uneven recovery of employment between women and men throughout 2021 (ILO 2021a). Country-level data on job losses provides support for the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) initial projections about the vulnerability of informal workers to the global ‘pandemic recession’. Most informal workers in the world are located in low-and middle-income countries and are in self-employment. Data from ILOSTAT shows that working hours in lower-income countries in 2021 were about 7 per cent below their pre-COVID (2019) levels, while the corresponding decrease was only about 4 per cent in high-income countries (ILO 2021c). Data from Peru in 2020 suggests that the difference in the decrease in labour income between employees and the self employed (who are largely in the informal sector) was 21 percentage points (ILO 2021b; see also Chen and Vanek, Chapter 2 in thisvolume).
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Decomposing the impact of human capital on household income inequality in South Africa: Is education a useful measure?
- Authors: Friderichs, Tamaryn J , Keeton, Gavin R , Rogan, Michael
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/470842 , vital:77400 , https://doi.org/10.1080/0376835X.2022.2163228
- Description: Human capital (HC) has increasingly been identified as a driver of economic development, with the potential to reduce income inequality, which, in South Africa, originates in the labour market. HC is, however, a complex concept to measure. This study uses Fields’ regression-based decomposition method to analyse the relationships between income inequality and HC in South Africa. The Fields method allows for the analysis of the impact of several factors contributing to HC on the distribution of a measure of income. Data from the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) wave 1 (2008) and 5 (2017) are used. The findings suggest that increasing educational attainment, through improved school quality for all, would likely play a key role in reducing income inequality in South Africa. Furthermore, the large role of education attainment in explaining household income inequality supports the use of education attainment as a proxy for HC in South Africa.
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Informal employment: what is missing from national economic recovery plans?
- Authors: Mhlana, Siviwe , Moussié, Rachel , Roever, Sally , Rogan, Michael
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , report
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/477952 , vital:78139 , ISBN , https://hdl.handle.net/10419/283788
- Description: Throughout 2021, fiscal stimulus packages were introduced to jump-start the COVID-19 'post-pandemic' economic recovery process. While calls for economic recovery packages that promise to 'build back better' have come from many directions, the under-allocation of recovery resources directed at workers in the informal economy threatens the recovery of livelihoods for the majority of the world's workforce. This paper analyses the economic recovery approaches of two low-income (Bangladesh and Kenya) and two middle-income (South Africa and Thailand) countries. The paper assesses the economic recovery responses in light of what is known about the impact of the crisis on informal workers globally, and the structure of informal employment in each country. The paper assesses national recovery packages with particular attention to the largest segments of informal employment and those where women are over-represented. The paper concludes with a reflection on what more needs to be done to ensure that national level economic recovery packages can support the livelihoods of the majority of workers in emerging and developing countries.
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Mobile money taxation and informal workers: Evidence from Ghana's E‐levy
- Authors: Anyidoho, Nana A , Gallien, Max , Rogan, Michael , Van den Boogaard, Vanessa
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/477985 , vital:78144 , https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12704
- Description: In recent years, governments in low-income countries have increasingly introduced taxes on mobile money transfers. These are often explicitly promoted as a way of taxing informal economic activity, but critics have noted their potential negative impact on lower-income groups and specifically those in the informal sector. Yet there is virtually no evidence base on the effects of mobile money taxes on informal workers. This article assesses how informal workers in Accra, Ghana, use mobile money and how they perceive Ghana's Electronic Transfer Levy (E-levy), introduced in May 2022. This provides a particularly interesting case study to explore the equity implications of the tax, as the policy was explicitly justified as a way of taxing the informal economy but also includes measures to limit the tax burden on lower-income groups.
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COVID-19 and informal work in 11 cities: recovery pathways amidst continued crisis
- Authors: Alfers, Laura C , Braham, Christy , Chen, Martha A , Grapsa, Erofili , Harvey, Jenna , Ismail, Ghida , Ogando, Ana C , Reed, Sarah O , Roever, Sally , Rogan, Michael , Sinha, Shalini , Skinner, Caroline , Valdivia, Marcela
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/473850 , vital:77687 , https://www.wiego.org/publications/covid-19-and-informal-work-11-cities-recovery-pathways-amidst-continued-crisis
- Description: 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 down-turn. The focus on aggregate job and livelihood losses masks the multiple drivers behind these losses that are leaving labour mar-kets 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. Sur-veys 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 re-covery for different groups of informal workers approximately a year and a half into the pandemic. The study shows that the eco-nomic fallout of the COVID-19 crisis remains deep and persistent for workers at the base of the economy. Key findings include: Earnings for informal workers interviewed are still far below their pre-pandemic levels. Most respondents have not fully recovered their ability to work. By mid-2021, the typical worker was only earning 64% of her/his pre-COVID-19 earnings. In addition, the average number of days worked per week was only four in mid-2021, still considerably lower than the 5.5-day average in the pre-pandemic period.
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COVID-19 and informal work: Degrees and pathways of impact in 11 cities around the world
- Authors: Chen, Martha A , Grapsa, Erofili , Ismail, Ghida , Reed, Sarah O , Rogan, Michael , Valdivia, Marcela
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478150 , vital:78159 , ISBN 978-92-9267-176-1 , doi:10.35188/UNU-WIDER/2022/176-1
- Description: This paper presents findings from two rounds (2020 and 2021) of a study on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on informal workers in 11 cities across five regions of the world (Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and North America). The study, carried out by the WIEGO network in partnership with local organizations of informal workers in each city, included a survey questionnaire and key informant interviews, both conducted by phone. The study findings confirm that the pandemic recession severely undermined the livelihoods of informal workers with limited recovery by mid-2021. The study also examined the degree-and pathways-of impact between, and within, different sectors of informal workers and provides insights and demands from informal workers in their own words.
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COVID-19 and informal work: Evidence from 11 cities
- Authors: Chen, Martha A , Grapsa, Erofili , Ismail, Ghida , Rogan, Michael , Valdivia, Marcela , Alfers, Laura C , Harvey, Jenna , Ogando, Ana C , Reed, Sarah O , Roever, Sally
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/473839 , vital:77686 , https://doi.org/10.1111/ilr.12221
- Description: 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.
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COVID-19 et travail informel: les enseignements d'une étude sur la situation dans onze grandes villes
- Authors: Chen, Martha A , Grapsa, Erofili , Ismail, Ghida , Rogan, Michael , Valdivia, Marcela , Alfers, Laura C , Harvey, Jenna , Ogando, Ana C , Reed, Sarah O , Roever, Sally
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: French
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/473861 , vital:77688 , https://doi.org/10.1111/ilrf.12230
- Description: Les auteurs présentent les conclusions d'une étude dirigée par le réseau Femmes dans l'emploi informel: globalisation et organisation (WIEGO) sur les effets de la crise du COVID‐19 sur les travailleurs informels. L'analyse porte sur quatre professions et onze grandes villes de cinq régions. Il y est question du travail et des revenus, de l'accès à l'alimentation et de la faim, des responsabilités familiales et domestiques, ainsi que des stratégies d'adaptation des ménages. Les auteurs évoquent également les mesures de soutien proposées par les gouvernements et les organisations de travailleurs informels. Enfin, ils énoncent une série de principes devant guider l'action en faveur de ce groupe.
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COVID-19 y trabajo informal: evidencia de once ciudades
- Authors: Chen, Martha A , Grapsa, Erofili , Ismail, Ghida , Rogan, Michael , Valdivia, Marcela , Alfers, Laura C , Harvey, Jenna , Ogando, Ana C , Reed, Sarah O , Roever, Sally
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: French
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/473872 , vital:77689 , https://doi.org/10.1111/ilrs.12231
- Description: Se presentan las conclusiones de un estudio dirigido por la red Mujeres en Empleo Informal: Globalizando y Organizando (WIEGO), en el que se investigan las repercusiones de la crisis de la COVID‐19 en diferentes grupos de personas trabajadoras informales y en sus hogares en términos de empleo, ingresos, alimentación y hambre, cuidado y otras responsabilidades domésticas, así como las estrategias de afrontamiento de estas personas. Se comparan los roles de los gobiernos y de las organizaciones de personas trabajadoras informales en la prestación de diversas ayudas. Basándose en las reivindicaciones de estas personas, se plantean principios rectores para mejorar su situación en el futuro.
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Effets de la pandémie de COVID-19 et du travail de soins non rémunéré sur les moyens d'existence des travailleurs informels
- Authors: Ogando, Ana C , Rogan, Michael , Moussié, Rachel
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: French
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/473894 , vital:77691 , https://doi.org/10.1111/ilrf.12239
- Description: Avec la pandémie de COVID‐19, la crise sanitaire et économique s'est doublée d'une crise du travail de soins. Tous les travailleurs en ont pâti, y compris dans l'économie informelle. Les auteurs exploitent les résultats d'une étude longitudinale menée par le réseau WIEGO en juin‐juillet 2020 auprès de travailleurs informels de douze villes. Ils observent que la crise a accru la charge du travail de soins, avec des conséquences sur les moyens d'existence et la sécurité alimentaire. L'analyse sexospécifique de l'activité professionnelle et du travail de soins non rémunéré permet de comprendre les répercussions particulières de la crise sur les travailleurs informels dans le monde.
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Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and unpaid care work on informal workers' livelihoods
- Authors: Ogando, Ana C , Rogan, Michael , Moussié, Rachel
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/477908 , vital:78135 , https://doi.org/10.1111/ilr.12332
- Description: The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a health, economic and care crisis affecting all workers, including those in the informal economy. This article uses data from the first round of a mixed‐methods longitudinal study conducted in June/July 2020 by Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing in partnership with informal workers' organizations in 12 cities. It assesses the impacts of the multidimensional crisis on care responsibilities and the resulting effects on livelihoods and food security. A gendered analysis of paid work and unpaid care work sheds light on the unique features of the impacts of the current “pandemic recession” on the world's informal labour force.
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