Book Chapter
COVID-19 and Informal Work

This chapter presents findings from two rounds (2020, 2021) of a panel study on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on informal workers in 11 cities across 5 regions of the world (Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and North America). The study, carried out by the Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) network, in partnership with local organizations of informal workers in each city, included a survey questionnaire and key informant interviews, both conducted by phone. 

The study findings confirm that the pandemic, and associated lockdowns and restrictions, severely undermined the livelihoods of informal workers at the outset, with limited recovery by mid-2021. The study also examined the degree and pathways of impact between, and within, different sectors of informal workers and provides insights and demands from informal workers in their own words for recovery and the future.