Gender and informal livelihoods

Ana Carolina Ogando,Sally Roever,Michael Rogan

doi:10.1108/ijssp-06-2016-0077

Ana Carolina Ogando, Sally Roever + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1108/ijssp-06-2016-0077

Copy DOI

Abstract

PurposeThis paper explores the perceptions and experiences of women and men who work as informal waste collectors in four different cities. The purpose of this paper is to map out how and to what extent occupational, political-legal, economic and social dynamics are experienced differently by gender in a highly vulnerable segment of the urban informal economy, and explore gender differences in these workers’ coping strategies and the levels of action they develop to protect their livelihoods.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is based on a mixed methods study which combined a quantitative survey of informal workers with a qualitative participatory methodology. Study participants were drawn from a purposive sample of informal workers who belong to, or are affiliated with, membership-based workers’ organisations. The sample consists of waste pickers (n=614) from Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Bogotá, Colombia; Durban, South Africa; and Nakuru, Kenya.FindingsThe data show that despite significant differences between women and men upon entry into (informal) employment, their perceptions of key drivers and impacts are largely similar, with the exception of concerns around various types of physical security among women. They also indicate that levels of action among men and women waste pickers are only moderately influenced by gender, but are strongly influenced by the degree of organisation in the sector and the symbolic assets held by workers. The findings also illustrate the way in which gendered power dynamics operate within the informal recycling sector and how different levels of sector organisation and development often contribute to opportunities for collective action and, in turn, a reduction in gendered vulnerabilities.Originality/valueThe study offers a new policy angle which connects the level of sector organisation and development with the levels of action taken by informal workers in adapting to different types of shocks, as well as what this means in terms of gender empowerment.

Highlights

In most Latin American and Sub-Saharan African countries, a larger share of women than men are in informal employment (ILO, 2013b)
The ten cities were chosen through their participation in an ongoing collaboration between organisations of the working poor, international alliances of membership-based workers’ organisations (MBOs) and support organisations that are concerned with improving the livelihoods of informal workers
Its contribution to the literature is twofold: first in identifying gender similarities and differences in entry, perceptions of key drivers and coping strategies; and second in identifying the regional differences that intersect with gender gaps through a structured comparison of qualitative and quantitative data

Summary

Introduction

In most Latin American and Sub-Saharan African countries, a larger share of women than men are in informal employment (ILO, 2013b). Analyses of the source of these gender inequalities commonly focus on specific social constraints impacting women’s entrepreneurship potential, including, though not limited to: gender differences in access to education, patriarchal and cultural practices that limit women’s mobility, an unequal division of unpaid domestic labour, access to different social networks, greater exposure to occupational health and safety risks and less access to credit and start-up capital (Aterido et al, 2011; Folbre, 2006; Kabeer, 2003; Mahmud et al, 2012; Mayoux, 2001; Razavi, 2007; Wrigley-Asante, 2013) While these factors may help predict modes of entry into livelihood activities, they do not account for gendered differences in perceptions of the key drivers of working conditions, nor are they necessarily strong predictors of livelihood-related coping strategies. This study shifts the focus towards one such segment, the informal recycling sector, and analyses men and women’s perceptions of their key livelihood challenges and the strategies they use to overcome them

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Conclusion