Major Occupational Groups
in the Informal Economy

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 l ined by barbers, cobblers, garbage collectors, waste recyclers, 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 and, 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 makers; 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.

For more information on key occupations categorized by place of work, please click here.

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.

For case studies of major occupational groups, see below:

1. Street Vendors

WIEGO 2008 Fact Sheet on Street Vendors

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Chen, Martha Alter, Joann Vanek, Francie Lund, James Heintz with Christine Bonner and Renana Jhabvala. 2005. "Close Up: Occupational Groups." In The Progress of the World's Women: Women, Work and Poverty. New York: UNIFEM.

ILO. 2002. "Illustrative Case Studies: Street Vendors." In Women and Men in the Informal Economy: A Statistical Picture. Geneva: ILO.

Cohen, Monique with Mihir Bhatt and Pat Horn.. 2000. Women Street Vendors: The Road to Recognition." SEEDS, No. 20.

2. Waste Collectors

Visit waste collectors page

WIEGO 2008 Fact Sheet on Waste Collectors

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Chen, Martha with Nidhi Mirani and Mita Parikh. 2006. "Waste Pickers." In "Self-Employed Women: A Profile of SEWA Membership."   Ahmedabad: SEWA.

Medina, Martin. 2005. "Waste Picker Cooperatives in Developing Countries." Paper prepared for WIEGO/Cornell/SEWA Conference on Membership-Based Organizations of the Poor, Ahmedabad, India, January 2005.

Medina, Martin. 2005. "Waste Picker Cooperatives in Developing Countries." Paper prepared for WIEGO/Cornell/SEWA Conference on Membership-Based Organizations of the Poor, Ahmedabad, India, January 2005.

Chen, Martha Alter, Joann Vanek, Francie Lund, James Heintz with Christine Bonner and Renana Jhabvala. 2005. "Close Up: Occupational Groups." In The Progress of the World's Women: Women, Work and Poverty. New York: UNIFEM.

Medina, Martin. 1997. "Informal Recycling and Collection of Solid Wastes in Developing Countries: Issues and Opportunities." Tokyo: United Nations University / Institute of Advanced Studies Working Paper. No. 24.

3. Home-based Producers

WIEGO 2008 Fact Sheet on Home-based Workers

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ILO. 2002. "Illustrative Case Studies: Home-based Workers." In Women and Men in the Informal Economy: A Statistical Picture. Geneva: ILO.

Chen, Martha Alter, Jennefer Sebstad and Lesley O'Connell. 1999. "Counting the Invisible Workforce: The Case of Homebased Workers." World Development¸ Vol. 27, No. 3.

Jhabvala, Renana and Jane Tate. 1996. "Out of the Shadows: Homebased Workers Organize for International Recognition." SEEDS, No. 18.

4. Garment Makers

Mezzadri, Alessandra. 2008. "How Globalised Production Exploits Informal-Sector Workers: Investigating the Indian Garment Sector." In "Development Viewpoint," No. 12. Centre for Development Policy and Research, School of Oriental and African Studies,University of London.

Human Rights Watch. 2006. Swept Under the Rug: Abuses Against Domestic Workers Throughout the World. Human Rights Watch. Vol. 17, No. 7C. New York: Human Rights Watch.

Chen, Martha Alter, Joann Vanek, Francie Lund, James Heintz with Christine Bonner and Renana Jhabvala. 2005. "Close Up: Occupational Groups." In The Progress of the World's Women: Women, Work and Poverty. New York: UNIFEM.

Kabeer, Naila and Simeen Mahmud. 2004. "Rags, Riches and Women Workers: Export-oriented Garment Manufacturing in Bangladesh." In Marilyn Carr , ed., Chains of Fortune: Linking Women Producers and Workers with Global Markets. London: Commonwealth Secretariat.

Lund , Francie and Jillian Nicholson. 2003." Chains of Production, Ladders of Protection: Social Protection for Workers in the Informal Economy." Durban: School of Development Studies.

5. Domestic Workers

Fact Sheet on Domestic Workers

Human Rights Watch. 2006. Swept Under the Rug: Abuses Against Domestic Workers Throughout the World. Human Rights Watch. Vol. 17, No. 7C. New York: Human Rights Watch.

Mather, Celia. 2006. "Out of the Shadows." International Union Rights, Vol. 13, Issue 1.

Chen, Martha Alter, Joann Vanek, Francie Lund, James Heintz with Christine Bonner and Renana Jhabvala. 2005. "Close Up: Occupational Groups." In The Progress of the World's Women: Women, Work and Poverty. New York: UNIFEM.

Gothoskar, Sujata. 2005. New Initiatives in Organizing Strategy in the Informal Economy: Case Study of Domestic Workers Organizing in India. Bangkok: Committee for Asian Women.

Paper - Appendicies and References - Summary Document

Hertz, Tom. 2004. Have Minimum Wages Benefited South Africa’s Domestic Service Workers? Forum paper for African Development and Povery Reduction: The Macro-Micro Linkage. Department of Economics, American University.

6. Small Farmers

Chen, Martha Alter, Joann Vanek and Marilyn Carr. 2004. "Illustrative Case Studies: Agriculture." In Mainstreaming Informal Employment and Gender in Poverty Reduction: A Handbook for Policymakers and Other Stakeholders. London: Commonwealth Secretariat.

7. Migrant Workers

Chen, Martha Alter, Joann Vanek and Marilyn Carr. 2004. "Illustrative Case Studies: International Migration." In Mainstreaming Informal Employment and Gender in Poverty Reduction: A Handbook for Policymakers and Other Stakeholders. London: Commonwealth Secretariat.

In a 2006 publication, "Self-Employed Women: The Membership of SEWA, Marty Chen (WIEGO Coordinator/Harvard University) included descriptions of several major categories of informal workers among SEWA’s membership, as follows:

Urban Members:

• fruit and vegetable vendors
• garment makers
• bidi rollers
• construction workers
• waste pickers

Rural Members:

• embroiderers
• tobacco workers
• salt makers
• gum collectors

Each description summarizes the common constraints faced by the respective category of worker and what SEWA has done to address these constraints: read these descriptions from Part III of this book.