The Rise and Impact of Women in the Informal Economy
You might wonder what’s an informal economy?
According to International Labour Organisation. The informal economy includes all forms of work and businesses that operate outside of official regulation, taxation, and protection. This means jobs and income-generating activities that aren’t monitored by the government, don’t offer employment contracts, and often lack basic rights or security such as sick pay, pension, or legal recourse. Street vendors, home-based businesses, casual labourers, and many self-employed workers all fall under this umbrella.
If you’ve ever walked through a bustling market, caught a taxi across town, or bought homemade bread from a neighbour, you’ve encountered the quiet heartbeat of the informal economy. It’s everywhere tucked in side streets, woven into communities, flourishing behind the scenes. Yet, if you ask most people to describe the backbone of this invisible world, they might overlook its true architects: women. All around the globe, women are driving the informal economy, their efforts unseen and uncounted, but their impact impossible to ignore.
In the UK, for example, women are at the heart of many informal jobs. These roles include childminding for neighbours, cleaning homes and offices for cash, providing elderly or disability care without formal contracts, running hairdressing or beauty services from home, baking or catering for local events, and offering private tutoring or sewing and mending services or sell crafts online.
These jobs are often flexible, fitting around family responsibilities, but they are also insecure and unprotected. These are not just side hustles they’re lifelines. The International Labour Organisation estimates that over 60% of the world’s employed population earns a living in the informal sector, and women make up a large and growing share. In Sub-Saharan Africa, for instance, some studies show that up to 90% of women’s paid work is informal. That’s a staggering number yet most of these women remain invisible in official statistics, their contributions overlooked by policymakers and society alike.
It’s a curious thing: the world depends on this hidden workforce, but rarely stops to see it. Consider Maria, a single mother in Brazil who started selling pastries from her kitchen window to feed her children Or Nneka in Nigeria, who built a thriving clothes-mending business, sending her children to school on the proceeds of nimble fingers and endless resilience. Here in the UK, countless women often immigrants or carers clean homes, look after children, or sell food at markets, all without contracts or sick pay. Their work keeps cities moving and families afloat, yet it’s rarely celebrated.
Why does this matter? For one, the informal economy is not just a safety net; it’s an engine of innovation and survival. These women innovate not out of luxury, but necessity. They create jobs where none exist, pass on skills, and build networks of mutual support. In times of crisis, like the COVID-19 pandemic, it was informal workers many of them women who kept food on tables and care available when formal systems faltered. The UN has called women in the informal sector “shock absorbers” during crises, holding families and communities together when everything else seemed to unravel.
And yet, the challenges are enormous. Without legal recognition, informal workers have no safety net no pensions, no health insurance, no paid holidays. They’re vulnerable to exploitation, harassment, and sudden loss of income. Globally, women in the informal sector earn less, work longer hours, and face greater risks than their male counterparts. There’s a cruel irony here: the work is essential, yet it’s treated as expendable.
Stories from around the world bear this out. In India, self-employed women’s collectives like SEWA (Self Employed Women’s Association) have been championing for rights, training, and microloans for decades, with remarkable results. In Kenya, women’s savings groups help each other weather tough times and invest in new ventures. Here in the UK, campaigns by cleaners and carers many of them women are slowly winning better conditions and recognition. But progress is patchy, and too many are left to fend for themselves. According to the Living Wage Foundation, nearly 60% of low-paid, insecure jobs in the UK are held by women, many of whom are in roles such as cleaning, care work, and hospitality sectors with high rates of informal or precarious employment. A 2023 Resolution Foundation report also found that one in ten UK workers undertakes some form of informal or “off-the-books” work, highlighting the scale and persistence of this hidden workforce.
So, what needs to change? First, we must recognise informal work for what it is: real work, with real value. That means governments and businesses must include informal workers in policy decisions, collect accurate data, and listen to their voices. Legal protections, access to health care, safe working environments, and financial services are not luxuries they’re rights. At the same time, society must challenge the stigma that sees informal work as less important or “women’s work”. There is dignity in every honest job, and it’s long past time we honoured it.
What can you do, reading this now? Start by noticing. The next time you buy street food, use a ride-hailing app, or hire a cleaner, remember the woman behind the service. Support fair pay and safe conditions. Share stories that uplift rather than judge. If you’re a policymaker or business leader, ask how your choices can support not sideline these workers. And if you’re part of a network or community, use your platform to amplify the voices of women in the informal economy.
The story of women in the informal sector is one of grit, creativity, and quiet revolution. They may be unseen and uncounted on paper, but in the real world, they are nothing less than essential.
While the upcoming WIDD Annual Meeting 2025 (Online) is not focused on the informal economy, its broader mission is about making women’s work visible, valued, and supported, whatever form it takes. The meeting brings together thought leaders and professionals to share real-world strategies, build networks of strength, and champion the voices of women from all walks of life.
If you care about building a world where every woman’s contribution matters, regardless of where or how she works, then you’ll find inspiration and community at WIDD.
👉 Register for the WIDD Annual Meeting 2025 (Online)
Let’s keep the conversation going—because when we see and support each other, no woman’s work is ever truly unseen