Informal Employment (Edexcel IGCSE Geography)

• Informal employment is any employment which is unregulated and unofficial
• It is estimated that more than 60% of the world's employed population work in informal employment
• As much as 93% of informal employment is in developing and emerging countries
• Most informal employment is work in the tertiary sector
• Examples of jobs in the informal economy include:
  • Shoe shining
  • Rubbish collecting
  • Selling fruit or other products on the street
  • Para-transit - including rickshaws and tuk tuks
• There are a number of causes of informal employment

Causes of Informal Employment

• People working in the informal economy: 
• • Have no healthcare benefits
  • Are often exposed to health or safety risks
  • Have no contracts or guaranteed pay
  • Have no holiday or sick pay
• Para transit often causes congestion and if motorised they cause additional pollution
• Lack of regulations means workers are often exploited by employers 
• Many children working in informal employment do not get the opportunity to go to school
• Children may be exposed to health risks, drugs, violence and crime
• Governments collect less in tax because the jobs are not official 

• Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh 
• It is a megacity with a population of 22.5 million people
• Approximately 400,000 people migrate to Dhaka each year
• Estimates suggest that over 75% of the population are engaged in informal employment:
  
  • 500,000 rickshaw drivers
  • 80,000 waste related workers
  • Workers in small workshops
  • Casual workers in restaurants and hotels
  • Day labourers in construction
• Informal employment also includes children with over 690,000 children in Dhaka involved in informal employment
• Many of Dhaka's informal workers live in informal settlements

Characteristics of Dhaka's Informal Sector

• Low pay
• Long working hours
• Temporary or part-time work
• Underemployment
• No benefits such as holiday pay or sick pay
• Poor and unhealthy working conditions
• Health and safety risks
• No training
• Exploitation by employers
• No legal protection