Publications on informal economy

  1. Report

    Arab States Employment and Social Outlook - Trends 2024: Promoting social justice through a just transition

    20 February 2024

  2. ILO Working Paper 103

    New Forms of Employment and Labour Protection in China

    20 February 2024

    The objective of this paper is to provide a panoramic description and analysis of the diversity of the new forms of employment that have been emerging in China, with the focus on their background, the main types, the status quo of labour rights protection, and the government's responses to the challenges of labour regulations brought by NFE. Finally, on the basis of the above, the paper puts forward corresponding policy recommendations on how to improve workers' protection in new forms of Employment.

  3. Country Study

    The employment effects of industrial symbiosis networks in the South African informal sector

    08 February 2024

    This report deals with the employment effects of industrial symbiosis in the provinces of Gauteng and the Western Cape in South Africa. It focuses on the textile and construction value chains and formalization.

  4. ILO Working paper 106

    Are platform workers willing to unionize? Exploring survey evidence from 14 European countries

    06 February 2024

    This study contributes to the understanding of unionization in the platform economy, both in terms of membership rates among different groups of platform workers and the potential for unionization among those who are not yet members. The findings are based on a unique cross-national and comparative survey, dedicated to the analysis of various forms of digitally-mediated work and trade union-related behaviour, which allows for an explicit link between the platform economy and the conventional economy.

  5. Social protection

    ILO Strategy on extending social protection to migrant workers, refugees and their families

    30 January 2024

    All members of society have the right to social security, including migrant workers, refugees, and their families. However, they face numerous legal and practical obstacles in accessing social protection. Based on the principles of equality of treatment and non-discrimination, well-designed and inclusive social protection systems and international cooperation, are powerful tools to reduce poverty, inequality, social exclusion and achieving sustainable development.

  6. Executive Summary

    World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2024

    10 January 2024

    Labour markets have shown surprising resilience despite deteriorating economic conditions, but recovery from the pandemic remains uneven as new vulnerabilities and multiple crises are eroding prospects for greater social justice.

  7. Report

    World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2024

    10 January 2024

    Labour markets have shown surprising resilience despite deteriorating economic conditions, but recovery from the pandemic remains uneven as new vulnerabilities and multiple crises are eroding prospects for greater social justice.

  8. ILO Working paper 101

    An unfinished task? Matching the Platform Work Directive with the EU and international "social acquis"

    20 December 2023

    This paper seeks to explore the key emerging regulatory dimensions of platform work. It contextualizes the challenges associated with platform work as an expression of the consolidated features that, in the past decades, have been transforming the labour market: non-standardization and the deregulation of employment relationships.

  9. Publication

    Statistical Methodology Series 11 - Identification of informality through labour force surveys

    20 December 2023

    The topic of this report is the identification of informality in line with the resolution concerning statistics on the informal economy adopted at the 21st ICLS. Key findings and conclusions are presented from the different stages of testing, along with their implications for questionnaire design and content. Ensuring that informal employment and informal sector are measured well and with a gender perspective is key to improving our understanding the characteristics of women’s and men’s work.

  10. Publication

    Statistical Methodology Series 10 - Identification of ICSE-18 through labour force surveys

    20 December 2023

    This report illustrates Key findings and implications for questionnaire design obtained from the pilot studies carried out by the ILO in Uganda and Peru in relation to the identification of status in employment based on the International Classification of Status in Employment (ICSE-18). Working relationships are inextricably linked to - and have direct implications for - the identification and measurement of informality. Thus, ensuring both are measured well is key to improving our understanding of informality.