Recognition, Responsiveness and Reciprocity: What Informal Worker Leaders Expect from the State, the Private Sector and Themselves

Abstract

More than a year after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, evidence continues to accumulate that its economic impact has disproportionately hit vulnerable populations (OECD 2020). In the world of work, the most severe impact has been felt by workers who lack income security, contracts and access to basic protections, all of which are prevalent conditions in the informal economy. According to estimates compiled by the ILO (2020), workers globally lost $3.5 trillion during the first three-quarters of 2020 as a result of the pandemic, and workers in informal employment—particularly women (Azcona et al. 2020, Lakshmi Ratan et al. 2020)—have been especially vulnerable to income loss and poverty during the crisis.