Major Occupational Groups of Informal Workers

Street vendors in Mexico City; push-cart vendors in New York city; rickshaw pullers in Calcutta; jeepney drivers in Manila; garbage collectors in Bogotá; and roadside barbers in Durban. Those who work on the streets or in the open-air are the more visible occupational groups in the informal  economy. The streets of cities, towns, and villages in most developing countries – and in many developed countries – are lined by barbers, cobblers, garbage collectors, waste pickers, and vendors of vegetables, fruit, meat, fish, snack foods, and a myriad of non-perishable items ranging from locks and keys to soaps and detergents, to clothing. In many countries, head-loaders, cart pullers, bicycle peddlers, rickshaw pullers, and camel, bullock, or horse cart drivers jostle to make their way down narrow village lanes or through the maze of cars, trucks, vans, and buses on city streets.

But the informal economy includes activities and workers that are less visible – even invisible. On the street corners of most cities, towns, or villages, even in residential areas, are countless small kiosks or stalls that sell goods of every conceivable kind. Down the crowded lanes of most cities, towns, or villages are small workshops that repair bicycles and motorcycles; recycle scrap metal; make furniture and metal parts; tan leather and stitch shoes; weave, dye, and print cloth; polish diamonds and other gems; make and embroider garments; sort and sell cloth, paper, and metal waste; and more.

The least visible informal workers, the majority of them women, sell or  produce goods from their homes: garment workers; embroiderers; incense-stick rollers; cigarette rollers; paper bag makers; kite makers; hair band makers; food processors; and others. These least-visible workers are not confined to developing countries. Home-based workers are to be found around the world, including: garment workers in Toronto; embroiderers on the island of Madeira; shoemakers in Madrid; and assemblers of electronic parts in Leeds. Some of these home-based workers work on their own account, while others work on a piece-rate basis for a contractor or a firm.

Then there are those – again usually women – who work in others’ homes: the tens of millions domestic workers around the globe who are among the lowest paid and most vulnerable of all workers.

Other categories of informal work that are common in both developed and developing countries include contract workers in restaurants and hotels; sub-contracted janitors and security guards; casual day labourers in construction and agriculture; piece-rate workers in sweatshops; and temporary office helpers or off-site data processors. Most workers in all of these categories of work are informally employed, without secure contracts, worker benefits, or social protection.

Conditions of work and the level of earnings differ markedly among those who scavenge on the streets for rags and paper, those who produce garments on a sub-contract from their homes, those who sell goods on the streets, and those who work as temporary data processors. Even within countries, the informal economy is highly segmented by place of work, sector of the economy, and status of employment and, across these segments, by social group and gender. But most workers in the informal economy share one thing in common: the lack of legal recognition and protection.

This section of the Informal Economy site includes detailed information on several key categories of informal workers:

• Domestic Workers
• Home-Based Workers
• Street Vendors
• Waste Pickers
• Other groups
  • Construction Workers
  • Garment Workers
  • Small Farmers