Informal economy, decent work, poverty

Socioeconomic security is key to the well-being of the individual and the family. By responding to people's needs, social protection fosters social inclusion and cohesion. This document presents a broader concept of social security that is part of the framework of ILO's Decent Work Programme and different aspects of social protection are analysed in the context of the events that mark the life cycles of people, from childhood to old age.

Brú, E.; Rosal. MH. Economía informal y trabajo decente en Centroamérica y República Dominicana. (Informal economy and decent work in Central America and Dominican Republic). San Jose, Costa Rica: ILO, 2001.

Education and training play a key role in the fulfilment of economic and social objectives. They are essential to succeed in a globalised environment, where the fact of having human resources with theoretical and practical knowledge contributes to higher competitiveness, and facilitates the ability of enterprises to adapt and produce, thus achieving full personal and social development.
A solid education and training system allows to foster economic and social insertion, by offering opportunities to many people who would otherwise be excluded from the labour market.

Cinterfor/ ILO. Training for decent work. Montevideo: Cinterfor, 2001.

This book has been envisaged as a contribution to the concept of decent work and promoting its achievement, as objectives adopted by the International Labour Organization. It approaches its tasks from the particular viewpoint of the prospects and practices of vocational training institutions of the Latin American and Caribbean region.
Insofar as they are a fundamental right of current or potential workers, education and vocational training are unavoidable components of any dignified job, particularly in the midst of technological advance and the knowledge society. As an instrument of productivity and competitiveness, they are a prerequisite of economic efficiency which generates quality employment. As providers of workers' qualifications, they are a precondition for access and preservation of work. Therefore, training is part of the concept of decent work and an essential element of any action aimed at attaining it. We may assert that there is no decent work without vocational training.

Freije, S.; Monteferrante,P. Common problems of back door neighbors: Social security and Informal Employment in Barbados, Trinidad/Tobago and Venezuela. IADB. Executive Summary, July, 2002.

The study has two objectives: to evaluate the degree of poverty and lack of social protection of informal workers in three countries of the region: Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela; and to recommend mechanisms for broadening social security and assistance coverage of informal workers in the selected countries. To do so, a description and assessment is made with regards to the social security system of the three countries. The dynamics of labour markets are analysed together with the relationship between informal employment, poverty and social protection. Finally, a diagnosis on social protection for informal workers is made and some recommendations on social protection are given.

Herrera Valencia, B.; Sepúlveda, J.M. Relaciones laborales en Centroamérica, informalidad y empleo decente. (Labour relations in Central America. Informality and decent work). San Jose, Costa Rica: ILO. ACTRAV, 2003.

This document makes a comparative analysis on labour relations in several Central American countries. It studies the actors that take part in collective bargaining. It further observes the most relevant variables of the labour market providing information regarding employment by sector and distinguishing between formal and informal activity. Special emphasis is placed on labour relations as a means to promote decent work by reducing informal labour.

ICFTU. The informal economy: women on the frontline. 2004. Trade Union World Briefing, 2.

While women are many times discriminated and edged out of the labour world, they are strongly represented in the informal economy and, trade unions of women in the informal economy have been emphasized. Home-based textile workers in Argelia, Brazil and the United States, street vendors in India and Moldavia, free-lance hairdressers in Ghana, peasant farmers in Peru, home-based child carers in Croatia; fishmongers in Chad…all have their tale to tell as trade unionists. The fundamental trade union principle of solidarity is at stake, but so is the very survival of the trade union movement worldwide.

The purpose of this book is to contribute to the understanding of relations between decent work and the quality of family life. In particular, it follows one of the objectives suggested by ILO regarding the promotion of labour policies and institutions that encourage dialogue among social partners and advance towards decent work.
It explores the compatibility between work in the productive environment and the quality of family life and social life of workers. The study analyses Chile's experience during the nineties, a succesful period in terms of economic growth, where poverty was reduced and important changes at the family and labour structure level took place.

This Bulletin analyses the close relationship that exists between the concepts of decent work and vocational training. The notion of decent work, launched by ILO Director General in 1999, has proved to be a useful tool to bring together several strategies and objectives, revaluing the ethical component of the labour world, in times when old paradigms are being questioned. What the different articles of the present Bulletin look into is precisely the kinship of vocational training with this concept. None of these papers is definitive, as they deal with a concept under construction.

This Bulletin includes the main papers presented at the Inter-American Tripartite Seminar on Vocational Training, Productivity and Decent Work, held in Rio de Janeiro in May 2002, and it also includes other articles which tackle the subjects dealt with at that important event from different perspectives. Moreover, it introduces a series of figures which were prepared based on the national reports presented by each delegation at the Seminar which give an outline of the general overview of vocational training in the countries represented as well as some private initiatives taken up by different social actors in this field.

This document is structured in four large parts: in the first one, the main deficits of decent work in Peru are identified, in the second one, policies for the reduction of the detected decent work deficits are presented. Then, the third one introduces the criteria to set priority objectives and finally a short and medium-term plan of activities is outlined to be implemented in the country.

This document intends to describe urban microenterprises in Central America. Based on the data obtained, it can be said that they are extremely poor productive units whose main rationale is probably family consumption. It refers to self-employment and to a group of economic units with a very inadequate insertion in the labour market, particularly of non-tradable products, and with little chances of competing in a globalised market. In accordance with this, PROMICRO sets the lines of action through the services required by these economic units so as to support their economic growth development.

The main policy objective of the IOE is to try and bring this informal activity within the parameters of the formal economy through promoting policies which aim to provide an enabling environment for those engaged in informal activities to be able to progress to the formal economy without destroying, in the meantime, the only means of livelihood available to millions of people in developing countries.

The increase in the amount of people taking up atypical jobs and the State's withdrawal from training for work have raised the question of how the workforce of such jobs gets training.
On the basis of the available statistics, a typology was elaborated with the cases corresponding to the different types of jobs observed in Chile. In-depth interviews were conducted in each case.
The material gathered allows to put forward the hypotheses of human resources training mechanisms. It also allows to identify the deficiencies of the role of enterprises and the State in terms of training financing and competency acquisition.

This field research intends to inform about the offices where enterprises can be legally registered in Guatemala, the proceedings to be followed, requirements to be fulfilled and the times and costs to be assumed. It also seeks to determine the main reasons why many entrepreneurs remain in the informal sector of the economy. With the purpose of establishing the possible reasons, the field research deemed it necessary to base itself on some interviews to micro entrepreneurs.
In order to achieve these objectives, two types of written instruments were prepared: interview pads and observation guides. All in all, seven instruments were used. These are enumerated here together with the results obtained by using them and their interpretation.

This paper revises the administrative and tax charges that affect Peruvian enterprises. The purpose is to identify the unnecessary costs to which they are subject. Their elimination would facilitate the process of bringing many informal enterprises to formality and it would reduce the transaction costs for both formal and informal enterprises.
The changes occurred in terms of taxes, fiscal policies and their effects on collection and informalization are studied. Finally, it suggests reforms at various levels: fiscal policies, collection agents and tax controls.

By a comparative analysis among countries, this publication tackles several issues such as the labour and tax legislation and its impact on microenterprises; the town council and street vendors; special regimes of institutional promotion and development; informal urban microenterprises and their integration; and small and microenterprise trade unions in the countries of the region.
Furthermore, it presents conclusions and recommendations of the studies conducted in several countries so that they may contribute to further integration between public authorities and micro entrepreneurs and workers from the informal sector. The purpose is to promote the incorporation of the sector into the structures and economic and social processes through the access to formality.

This document contains some measurement exercises and an analysis on the informal sector carried out in different countries of the region. It determines the dimension of employment in such segment, the characteristics of the labour force and the indicators on their employment conditions, such as salaries, income, working days, etc. In this way, it seeks to offer some evidence about the conditions of decent work in the informal sector, by taking into account its heterogeneity. Finally, it includes some challenges posed to employment policies regarding this sector.

This paper addresses how and why domestic workers in Jamaica are disenfranchised, with particular emphasis on the law's inability to combat their exploitation in the labour force. My starting point is an online newspaper article entitled "Coping as a Domestic Helper", which was based on a study investigating the living standard and coping strategies of minimum wage earners. In Jamaica domestic workers fall into three main categories - the residential worker, the non-residential weekly worker and the daily worker. Domestic workers are undervalued and their plight is especially grievous because they are characterized by a number of features that combine to have an exponentially negative effect on their social worth.