Suchergebnisse

AbstractThere has been increasing recognition of the growth of informal employment in the global South and North. Most informal work is precarious and low paid, with workers having little or no access to social protection. It is sometimes suggested that an approach that moves away from productivism – the idea of work as a pathway to access social protection – and towards a universal human rights‐based approach is important. However, this article argues that a large and growing informal economy does not provide justification for abandoning certain key productivist ideas. Key ideas that should not be abandoned include the focus that this approach has on establishing a link between workers and capital and the importance of social services within a social protection discourse that is presently dominated by cash grants. Also important, productivist ideas emphasize the economic contributions of informal workers as a means by which to complement a human rights‐based argument for the extension of workplace protection to all workers, regardless of employment status. Overall, the hard binary that is sometimes drawn between human rights‐based approaches and productivist (or "instrumentalist") arguments may not always be as definitively delineated as some might suggest.

RésuméAvec la pandémie de COVID‐19, la crise sanitaire et économique s'est doublée d'une crise du travail de soins. Tous les travailleurs en ont pâti, y compris dans l'économie informelle. Les auteurs exploitent les résultats d'une étude longitudinale menée par le réseau WIEGO en juin‐juillet 2020 auprès de travailleurs informels de douze villes. Ils observent que la crise a accru la charge du travail de soins, avec des conséquences sur les moyens d'existence et la sécurité alimentaire. L'analyse sexospécifique de l'activité professionnelle et du travail de soins non rémunéré permet de comprendre les répercussions particulières de la crise sur les travailleurs informels dans le monde.

ResumenCon datos de la primera ronda de un estudio longitudinal con métodos mixtos realizado en junio y julio de 2020 por la red WIEGO en colaboración con organizaciones de personas trabajadoras informales de doce ciudades, se evalúa el impacto de la actual crisis pandémica multidimensional (sanitaria, económica y de cuidados) en las responsabilidades de cuidado y el efecto resultante en los medios de vida y la seguridad alimentaria de personas trabajadoras informales de cuatro sectores. Un análisis de género del trabajo remunerado y del trabajo de cuidados no remunerado arroja luz sobre las características únicas del impacto de la actual recesión pandémica en la fuerza de trabajo informal del mundo.

AbstractThe COVID‐19 pandemic triggered a health, economic and care crisis affecting all workers, including those in the informal economy. This article uses data from the first round of a mixed‐methods longitudinal study conducted in June/July 2020 by Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing in partnership with informal workers' organizations in 12 cities. It assesses the impacts of the multidimensional crisis on care responsibilities and the resulting effects on livelihoods and food security. A gendered analysis of paid work and unpaid care work sheds light on the unique features of the impacts of the current "pandemic recession" on the world's informal labour force.