Reconceptualising Paid Informal Work and its Implications for Policy: Some Lessons from a Case Study of Southampton

Policy Studies, 1999, Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 221-233.

13 Pages Posted: 26 Dec 2015

See all articles by Colin Williams

Colin Williams

University of Sheffield - School of Management

Jan E. Windebank

University of Sheffield - Department of French

Date Written: 1999

Abstract

Drawing upon case study evidence from Southampton, the aim of this paper is to show that paid informal work is not merely an economically-motivated peripheral form of employment that should be eradicated due to its fraudulent and exploitative nature. Instead, paid informal work is revealed to be mostly conducted for family, neighbours and friends for social rather than economic reasons and is thus more akin to unpaid community exchange in the private sphere than to formal employment.

Keywords: Informal sector, household work practices, livelihoods, economic development, England

JEL Classification: H26, J46, K42, O17

Suggested Citation

Williams, Colin and Windebank, Jan E., Reconceptualising Paid Informal Work and its Implications for Policy: Some Lessons from a Case Study of Southampton (1999). Policy Studies, 1999, Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 221-233., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2707984

Colin Williams (Contact Author)

University of Sheffield - School of Management ( email )

15 Conduit Road
Sheffield, S10 1FL
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/management/staff/williams/index

Jan E. Windebank

University of Sheffield - Department of French ( email )

United Kingdom
(0114) 222 4888 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.shef.ac.uk/french/staff/jwindebank.html

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