Book Chapter
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Employment

This chapter provides a comparative summary of recent national statistics from five Latin American countries—Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, Mexico, and Peru—on employment losses and recovery during the peak COVID-19 years compared to pre-pandemic levels. These findings complement findings from other regions on the employment impact of COVID-19 which are featured in other chapters in this volume. 

This chapter also summarizes findings from a panel study carried out by the Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) network in mid-2020 and mid-2021 in 11 cities around the world, using both a survey questionnaire and in-depth interviews. 

These micro-findings supplement the national data with information on the dynamics of employment losses and gains for workers in specific groups of urban informal workers. The chapter concludes with reflections on the use of mixed data sources and research methods and on policy responses to the informal economy going forwards.