Towards a more inclusive social protection: informal workers and the struggle for a new social contract

Abstract

The provision of social protection by the state in the form of social assistance, insurance and services, is widely considered to be a key component of a social justice oriented social contract. Informal workers remain largely excluded from social protection benefits and schemes as highlighted by their limited access to relief, income security and social services during the COVID-19 pandemic. This chapter explores how informal workers can be active participants in the shaping of social protection, and by extension a social contract. It draws on the power resources approach to review examples of collective action led by informal workers and their organisations to engage the state in social dialogue for greater access to social protection and quality social services. Learning from these examples can provide strategies for informal workers organisations to engage in the process of defining a new social contract given the heightened attention on extending social protection due to the COVID-19 pandemic.