Reconceptualizing Women's Paid Informal Work: Some Lessons from Lower-Income Urban Neighbourhoods
20 Pages Posted: 6 Jul 2013
Date Written: 2003
Abstract
This paper evaluates critically whether women‘s paid informal work is low-paid market-like work conducted for the purpose of economic gain. Drawing upon interviews with 400 households in UK lower-income urban neighbourhoods, we show that only a small segment of the paid informal work conducted by women is of this character. The vast bulk is undertaken for and by friends, relative and neighbours under non-market relations for reasons associated with redistribution and sociality. Given this finding, we thus conclude that a reconsideration is required of whether eradication alone is always the appropriate policy response.
Keywords: gender, informal employment, informal economy, informal sector, undeclared work, shadow economy, underground economy, United Kingdom, gender division of labour
JEL Classification: O17, H26, H31
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation