Older Informal Workers in the COVID-19 Crisis
Key findings and policy recommendations pertaining to older informal workers based on research undertaken as part of the COVID-19 Crisis and the Informal Economy study.
1. When COVID-19 hit, older informal workers saw their earnings collapse and a much slower return to their pre-COVID-19 livelihoods than their younger counterparts. Evidence from past crises suggests that older workers find it difficult to re-enter the labour market after unemployment and are more likely to face decline in job quality.1 The pandemic has sped up the use of digital technologies, which holds both potential and challenges for older people’s work.
2. Less than 20 per cent of people aged 60 and older in most low-income countries have income security through a pension, and women are less likely than men to have a pension.2 Study findings that older informal workers continued to work during a pandemic, while relying on coping strategies that increased their debt and eroded assets and savings, highlight the precariousness of their livelihoods. They also show that, for many, work is required for actual survival.
3. Social pensions have been effective in ensuring older people’s income security and wellbeing during COVID-19: older people living in countries with social pensions in place were often able to receive timely income support.
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