Publications on informal economy

  1. Publication

    Cooperatives meeting informal economy workers' child care needs - A Joint ILO and WIEGO Initiative

    25 April 2018

    Cooperatives set up and run by workers in the informal economy are among the solutions in meeting women workers’ care needs, while also helping protect their labour rights. This report complements the ILO's previous studies with cases from Brazil, India, and Guatemala on how informal economy workers’ organizations can mobilize through cooperatives to provide child care services to their members. The case studies highlight diverse forms of child care provision and outline the varied partnerships needed to implement and sustain child care services for informal economy workers.

  2. Publication

    Expanding women's employment opportunities: Informal economy workers and the need for childcare

    01 November 2007

    Childcare plays an essential role in supporting the employment of workers, and particularly women who continue to carry the primary responsibility for childcare in most societies. The lack of childcare support undermines women’s employment and steers women into the poorly paid, poorly protected informal economy. To address the gender dimension of informality, policy responses, programmes and projects need to recognize that providing childcare is a basic necessity for expanding women’s employment opportunities and enabling them to shift from informal economy activity to formal economic activity. The paper explores good practices on supporting the child care needs of informal workers through a series of well documented examples from Africa, Asia and Latin America.