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The crisis during the pandemic restrained the livelihood of women and disrupted their economic opportunities. Specifically, during the height of the lockdown, when people were restricted from going out, the livelihood of women who sold and peddled seafood products was greatly affected. This paper unfolds women's socio-demographic profile and knowledge regarding the laws for protecting women's rights in the lexis of the Republic Act No. 9710, also known as the Magna Carta of Women, and their economic condition in the informal economy during the pandemic. This descriptive mixed method quantitatively surveyed 70 women and another 10 women for the Key Informant Interviews (KIIs). The findings have shown that women in the informal economy were predominantly in the middle and late adulthood stage, married, the majority had a low level of education (i.e., elementary & high school levels) and were the breadwinners in the family. Also, the average size of each family consisted of 7 members with an average family monthly income of 7,407 pesos. The themes unearthed that informants perceived the Magna Carta of Women as unfamiliar and vague concepts, inconsistent implementation, and responsive leadership. On the other note, informants highlighted that the imagery of women in society gained parity in gender roles. It was revealed that women struggled with delayed assistance, parental obligations, prejudice, and partial treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the public health system and socioeconomic sector, one of the worst being the impacts on the informal economy. Despite their past survival, the current pandemic-induced crisis has cast doubt on informal economy resilience. This study aims to capture the informal economy resilience facing the unprecedented economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. We reviewed 42 selected peer-reviewed journal articles to synthesise a general concept of informal economy resilience during pandemic-induced crisis. We found that strict lockdown during a pandemic becomes the main driver that exacerbates the vulnerability of informal economy. The impacts are spatiotemporally varied, different within the group, and have multilevel characteristics (from individual to society). This vulnerable condition has triggered the informal economy to conduct several coping mechanisms to face economic disadvantages. Both individual coping mechanisms and government intervention have altered the informal economy's resilience throughout time. The current combination of defense mechanisms results in four possibilities: bounce back better, bounce back, recover but worsen, and collapse. This review offers valuable insights into the appropriate actions that governments should undertake in response to economic downturns resulting from pandemics. It highlights the importance of considering vulnerable groups when formulating policy during a crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 pandemic has undermined the functionality of formal and informal economies globally, with developing countries suffering the social, political and economic effects of the pandemic. Economic downturns in the global south, including Nigeria, have given rise to declining state control in the face of human insecurity. This study, hinging on the neoliberal political economy thesis, examines the economic crisis and declining state control the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown engendered in managing the security situation in Nigeria. The study, utilizing the dominant qualitative methods, comprising interviews, focus group discussions, and documented evidence, highlighted that the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown disproportionately affected the people, mainly poor people, households and communities in different parts of the country. The failure of the government to engage in an effective social protection policy generated discontent and led to criminal activities undermining security in Nigeria. The study concludes that the insecurity and economic crisis the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown engendered have weakened the state's authority in Nigeria. The study suggests that engaging effective social protection policy presents an opportunity for mitigating security challenges to bring about socioeconomic stability in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, women have been disproportionally affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. While the impact has varied between groups of women, women in the informal sector, mainly those managing micro- and small-scale businesses, have been severely affected. Drawing on the case of urban Sri Lanka, this paper explores the challenges that women owners of micro- and small-scale businesses faced during the pandemic and how they leveraged digital technologies to overcome these challenges. The paper adopts a feminist intersectional lens, which examines the everyday experiences of women in gendered economies through semi-structured interviews conducted in three phases during the pandemic. The first section of the paper details the challenges that women faced during the pandemic, including issues of mobility, competing care responsibilities, lack of institutional support, financial security, and health. The second section discusses how women used digital tools such as social media to overcome these challenges. The paper argues that although digital tools were initially used in response to the challenges posed by the pandemic, they have been permanently incorporated into everyday entrepreneurial practices of women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, more than 60% of all workers work in the informal economy (ILO 2020). One sector, waste pickers, comprise 1–2% of workers in low- and middle-income countries, yet their vulnerabilities and contributions to the circular economy are poorly understood. The COVID-19 pandemic presents a valuable opportunity to evaluate the socio-economic precarity of waste pickers, the essentiality of their contributions to sustainability efforts, and the fragility of circular economy infrastructures. This study, designed by WIEGO (Women in the Informal Economy: Globalizing and Organizing), aimed to assess the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns on waste pickers globally. Additionally, the study surveyed occupational health challenges faced by waste pickers and responses by local governments and non-governmental organizations. Between June and July 2020, local research teams surveyed 499 waste pickers in 9 cities in 8 countries. The study findings highlight 1) that the pandemic exacerbated the already precarious economic condition of waste pickers; 2) high worker risk to occupational exposures and lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), which resulted in varied PPE usage, and 3) the uneven and limited distribution of economic assistance and aid by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and local governments in support of waste pickers as essential workers. We propose several recommendations to address persistent inequities in the informal recycling sector to create a more inclusive and just circular economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on livelihoods everywhere, but especially in the informal economy where crucial forms of protection and security are often absent. A detailed understanding of the impacts for informal workers, the public policy approaches that could most effectively respond to their needs, and the barriers to such policy, is urgently needed. This paper discusses the results of a 2021 street vendor survey in Cali, Colombia, focusing on (1) vendors' socioeconomic circumstances and (2) their political engagement and attitudes on key policy and governance issues. It argues that while the pandemic and the government responses to it negatively impacted street vendors, there are steps that government could have taken, and can still take, to address vendors' needs and priorities. To ensure a just, equitable, sustainable recovery, and to protect economically marginalized groups from future crises, informal workers must be more meaningfully included in decision-making processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Latin American & Caribbean Anthropology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Latin American & Caribbean Anthropology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Studies show that the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions had disproportionately negative impacts on the majority of the world's workers who work informally, and on women informal workers in particular. This reflects the interplay between the pandemic, existing decent work deficits in informal employment, and discriminatory gendered norms within and outside the workplace. Based on a sample of 1,935 informal workers from a mixed-method longitudinal study across 12 cities in 2020 and 2021 conducted by Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO), this article finds that the gendered impacts on informal workers within and between occupational sectors observed in the initial three months have persisted over a year and half into the pandemic, and explores the reasons for the gender-differentiated impacts. It then considers the specific demands made by informal workers to the state, highlighting the ways in which sector and gender mediate workers' policy needs. Finally, it provides evidence of the role of member-based organisations of informal workers in responding directly to the needs of women workers, and on making claims on the state to fulfil these needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has put pressure on the informal sector, especially in developing countries. Regarding the case study found in Yogyakarta Special Region (Indonesia), this research focuses on workers in the informal sector with the following objectives: (1) to assess the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on informal workers' conditions, (2) to identify their strategies for surviving the crisis, and (3) to analyze the existing social safety net to support their livelihood. This study surveyed 218 respondents who worked in the informal, non-agricultural sector. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistical techniques. The results confirmed that most respondents underwent a decrease in working hours and incomes. In general, they have particular coping mechanisms to survive. The results also found that most respondents had high hopes for social assistance to stabilize their livelihood. Several government programs had been issued, either by improving policies before the pandemic or by creating new ones. However, there were many barriers and challenges to implementing them so that some recommendations had been suggested in this study to help the informal workers to become more resilient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to determine whether the Government of Jamaica's COVID-19 Allocation of Resources for Employees (CARE) Stimulus Response program provides a sufficient opportunity for formalization of the informal economy. Design/methodology/approach: A careful examination of the program has been conducted, specifically through reading the CARE brochure, reading the budget presentation by the Minister of Finance in which the program was introduced and details highlighted, following program updates at COVID-19 Press briefings and the Minister's Twitter account, and following related articles and programs via original and social media. Findings: This paper suggests that any capitalizing on the opportunity to promote formalization is insufficient. Early data show increased applications for licenses and registration by informal operators, but the CARE program is only short-term, and the benefits of formalization will have to surpass those of informality to be sufficiently attractive. Other attractors must necessarily involve simplifying the process of contributing to the National Insurance Scheme; and offering unemployment insurance; along with access to finance, education and training and policymaking opportunities. COVID-19 provides the possibility of a "new deal" for the informal economy that could yield productivity gains and more inclusive development. Originality/value: This is one of the earliest examinations of how the short-term financial support schemes implemented by the GoJ as its COVID-19 Stimulus Response has been used as an incentive to formalize the large informal economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Although the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic appears to disproportionately affect those in informal employment, they often receive less government support than the formally employed. This paper considers definitions of the informal economy and informal employment, explores the rationale for participating in the informal economy and reflects on some effects of the pandemic on these workers. Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents a narrative literature review with analysis of the selected academic and policy literature. Findings: There are considerable short- and long-term implications of the pandemic for informal employment and the informal economy. This occurs against the background of unresolved tensions arising from informal workers' desire for more employment security and employers' striving for continued labour flexibility while transferring costs to government and workers. The COVID-19 pandemic might accelerate current trends and force new solutions to better protect basic work security while helping organisations to remain competitive. Government policies supporting work safety, income security, moves to formalisation of employment and fairness for informal employees are particularly important. Research limitations/implications: As statistical and qualitative evidence is currently limited, it is too early to identify the full effects of COVID-19 on employment in the informal economy. Practical implications: The results suggest that governments need to carefully consider explicit support for those in informal employment to create fair, resilient and ethical structures for workers, businesses, economies and wider societies. Social implications: The paper identifies some of the social implications of COVID-19 for the informal sector. Originality/value: The analysis offers initial insights into the impacts of a major health, economic and social shock on informal working. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus pandemic has led to a loss of revenues for enterprises and workers due to workplace closures and restrictions on movement to 'flatten the curve'. In response, governments have made available temporary financial support to enterprises and workers affected. This paper evaluates a group currently excluded from this support, namely enterprises and workers in the undeclared economy, and a possible government policy response. To identify those involved, a 2019 Eurobarometer survey of undeclared work in Europe is reported. This reveals that one in every 132 European citizens relies wholly on undeclared earnings and the sectors and population groups involved. Given their reduced revenues and inability to access the temporary financial support, a voluntary disclosure initiative is recommended which brings undeclared enterprises and workers into the declared economy and onto the radar of state authorities by offering access to this temporary financial support if they disclose their previous undeclared work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is often thought that the informal economy is insulated from global economic volatilities because it functions outside of mainstream economic principles and regulations. This perception led to the informal economy being regarded as an employment shock absorber during economic crises. However, these assumptions have been tested by the recent COVID-19 pandemic that has brought the entire global economy to a halt due to the COVID-19 lockdown that subsequently resulted in economic downturns. The COVID-19 critical disruptions are likely to wipe out the gains made in addressing developmental challenges in developing nations and place strain on meeting the sustainable development goals. Against this backdrop, this paper interrogates the effectiveness of South Africa's R500 billion social and economic relief package on the livelihood of those employed in the informal economy. The article reveals that while the government's R500 billion social and economic relief is an effective measure to stimulate the economy and cushion workers and citizens, it does little to protect those in the informal economy. The government's interventions are not fully inclusive of the realities of the informally employed who remain without social security, and the pandemic is likely to worsen their socio-economic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]