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Urban Women’s Work: Mainstreaming the Informal Economy
Alison Brown
Inclusive Cities• Women in Informal Employment - Globalizing and
Organizing (WIEGO)– global research/policy network – seeks to improve the status of working poor
• Inclusive Cities Network – nine organisations, representing– 2 million workers: wastepickers, home-based workers, street
vendors
Emerging Economies
• Informal economy mainstay of many urban economies
• Provides majority of urban jobs
• Employs more women than men
• Can contribute to municipal income
• Crucial to urban livelihoods and poverty reduction
• …but, rarely exploited in LED – why?
What is the Informal Economy?
• Legal product, extra-legal process….
• Includes people in:
Unwaged work– Own account workers– Running small business employing others– Unpaid family members
Waged work– Employees (formal/informal businesses)
Region IE as % of N-AE
Women in IE (% in N-AE)
Men in IE (% in N-AE)
Sub-Saharan Africa
72 84 63
Benin 93 97 87
Latin America 51 58 48
Mexico 55 55 54
Asia 65 65 65
India 83 86 83
Scale of the Informal Economy
Informal employment in Non-Agricultural employment by Sex (1994-2000)
City Governments
• Many local government regulations affect IE– highways, public health, business regulation,
markets, planning, social welfare etc…..
• ..but LG response to IE is ambivalent
• Some good practice (rarely sustained)
• More common…– benign neglect …– …… systematic harassment
• ….why?
Critical Problems
• Challenges to LGs in managing large IEs
• Competing claims on urban space
• Traders complain ‘they only want our vote’
• A crucial problem is lack of reliable data– numbers of workers – economic impact
• No joined-up info on what LG already does for IE
Remittances
Remittances
Market fees to LG
Market fees to LG
Family Dependent
s
Family Dependent
s
WholesalerWholesaler
Food sellersFood
sellers
LandlordLandlord
PortersPorters
Inclusive Cities Campaign
Builds the capacity of member-based organisations
• Global trade
• Organisation and representation
• Social security
• Statistics
• Urban Policies
Statistics
How many workers?
Labour Force Survey S. Africa
• annual survey - 30,000 hhds
• non-agricultural workforce
• occupational classifications
• OCs – level 2– craft-related trade workers
(44%)– elementary occupations (eg:
street vendors) (26%)– service/shop/sales workers
(11%)
Campaigning…
StreetNet & the Durban experience
• South Africa hosting FIFA World Cup in 2010
• Campaign World Class Cities
• Street traders fear eviction
• Arguing for World Class Cities for All
Challenges
• Recognise integral place on the IE in LED
• Give recognition of role of women workers
• Enable…..
Women to work as Agents of Change
• New partnerships?
• Examples of good practice?
Alison Brown, Cardiff University [email protected]