Informal workers, in particular women, took a big hit from the COVID-19 lockdown measures. A multi-faceted support package, informed by the gendered nature of work, is urgently called for.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Articles on informal sector work
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Several groups of people are at high risk of hardship, especially those who have effectively become unemployed because of the lockdown.
Informal retailers that dot South Africa's townships have changed dramatically, but at great cost - avoidance of regulation and exploitation of employees.
The informal sector represents an opportunity to improve the lives of a large part of the workforce. Government should desist from harming livelihoods and broaden the scope of policy measures.
Little is known about how many people transition between the informal and formal sectors, a phenomenon called "churning".
Street vendors are the most visible of the people who work in the informal sector – up to half the urban workforce in cities like Manila – but whose needs and rights receive no official recognition.
Graft is common in the way that markets in Kinshasa are run.
The extent to which mobile phones can support and sustain real improvement in young lives is depressingly finite unless significant interventions occur.
Bringing significant benefits to an emergent middle class, Dhaka's cultural, economic, environmental and political landscapes are being rapidly but unevenly transformed.
Only 28% of working women across the globe are fully protected by maternity laws that provide for time off work with full pay.
Top contributors
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Associate professor, Rhodes University
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Senior researcher at the African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town
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Research Fellow, Institute of Development Studies
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Research Fellow, Western Sydney University
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Research Scientist, African Population and Health Research Center
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Senior Research Fellow, Digital Media, Western Sydney University
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Director, Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape
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Professor, Economics, University of the Western Cape
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Institute Associate, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University
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Senior Research Fellow, Department of Anthropology, Durham University
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Senior Researcher: Poverty and Inequality Initiative, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town
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Senior Lecturer in International Development, University of Antwerp
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Post-doctoral research fellow at the Institute of Development Policy, University of Antwerp
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Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Informal Urbanism (InfUr-) Hub, University of Melbourne
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Lecturer, University of the Western Cape
