Learning from experience : a gendered approach to social protection for workers in the informal economy

Literaturverz. S. 143 - 149

This research was funded by an ILO Global Programme, Strategies and Tolls against Social Exclustion and Poverty (STEP), Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing Organizing (WIEGO) and the World Bank. The book talks about the increase in the number of workers in tenuous work situations, working with no contracts or with contracts which offer little or no social protection across the world. The authors contend that women workers in the developing world form a large sub-segment of the working population that is at particular risk. The core question posed by the authors in this book about social protection is: Under what conditions can what kind of workers in the informal economy (an despecially poorer women) get access to what core measures of provision, which can be incrementally improved upon in the future? They also outline a framework within which to view life-cycle risks faced by workers under informal contracts. They consider the specific risks that women workers face, which need specific forms of intervention. They also review some innovative social protection programs around the world that have taken steps towards long-term comrehensive social protection coverage for the more vulnerable groups of workers. They question some basic models of labor, gender, public and private and formal and informal sector dichotomies that hinder the development of such programs. They argue for a new and different assessment based on open participation and new roles for different actors in civil society. They also suggest some ways for fruitful collaborations between state and non-state actors.