INFORMAL ECONOMY - DECENT WORK - POVERTY

As suggested by ILO, the most consistent way of analysing the situation of people in the informal economy is considering it in terms of decent work deficit. Jobs under bad conditions which are unproductive and not paid and which are not acknowledged or protected by the Law, the lack of labour rights, inadequate social protection and the lack of representation occur more frequently in the informal economy, particularly at lower levels made up by women and young workers.

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Decent work summarises the aspirations of people regarding their labour lives and it implies opportunities of obtaining productive jobs with fair salaries, safety at the labour place, social protection for families, better perspectives of personal development and social integration, freedom for those who express their concerns, who are organised and take part in the decision-making that affects their lives as well as equal opportunities and treatment for women and men.

Decent work should be the essence of global, national and local strategies in order to achieve economic and social progress. It is crucial to the reduction of poverty and as a way of achieving fair, global and sustainable development. In this sense, the notion of equity becomes a key issue since it refers to several forms of inequity and exclusion that affect human groups in the society.

According to this, it is impossible to think of decent work that does not imply the right to training; particularly, relevant, fair and quality training. In this way, Cinterfor/ILO joins in the achievement of the goals and objectives promulgated and suggested by ILO. And this is done by encouraging and coordinating efforts, resources and knowledge accumulated by vocational training institutions and actors of the region and the world.

Promoting decent work involves eliminating the negative aspects of informality, ensuring at the same time survival and entrepreneurial opportunities and fostering the protection and incorporation of workers and economic units of the informal economy into the formal economy.

Although there is not a direct relationship between informal labour and poverty it cannot be denied that the percentage of poor people who work in the informal economy is much higher than the ones who work in the formal economy. Besides, the proportion of poor women who work in the informal economy is higher than the amount of poor men. Poverty is a complex, multidimensional and heterogeneous phenomenon which explains why it has been defined and tackled according to so many approaches that have gone deeper and have adapted considering the cumulative advance.

Decent work in the Americas:
An agenda for the Hemisphere,
2006-2015. Lima: OIT, 2006.

The new ILO Recommendation 195. Human resources development: education, training and lifelong learning. Montevideo: Cinterfor/ILO, 2006.

Changing patterns in the world of work . Report of the Director General, ILC, 95th Session 2006, Geneva; ILO, 2006.

Therefore, the sub-use of workforce, due to unemployment or low productivity employment activities (mainly in the informal sector) is one of the main causes of poverty. Hence, to fight against it, it is essential to achieve decent labour insertion for everybody.

For that reason, in order to promote decent work and help in the reduction of poverty it is necessary to tackle the main causes of informal activities and informalization. The measures to broaden labour rights, improve social protection, invest in knowledge and skills of workers or provide access to credits and support services to micro entrepreneurs, as well as the elimination of legal and institutional barriers that limit the integration of entrepreneurs or workers into the formal economy are crucial to deal with informal activities. If these conditions are not approached, no sustainable progress towards acknowledged, protected and decent work shall be attained.

This section includes documents about this issue as a way to provide input and encourage discussion. Documents are organised in the following way: documents related to decent work, to the informal economy, to poverty, and documents that analyse the links among these categories. The approach of these issues provides the opinions and actions of social partners, aspects related to social dialogue, labour rights, social protection, equal opportunities, etc.