Gender & Social Protection Strategies in the Informal Economy

Gender & Social Protection Strategies in the Informal Economy PDF

Author: Naila Kabeer

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-03-21

Total Pages: 363

ISBN-13: 1317809890

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The vast majority of the world’s working women, particularly those from low-income households in developing countries, are located in the informal economy in activities that are casual, poorly paid, irregular and outside the remit of formal social security and protective legislation. This book examines the constraints and barriers which continue to confine women to these forms of work and what this implies for their ability to provide for themselves and their families and to cope with insecurity. It develops a framework of analysis that integrates gender, life course and livelihoods perspectives in order to explore the interactions between gender inequality, household poverty and labour market forces that help to produce gender-differentiated experiences of risk and vulnerability for the working poor. Drawing on practical experiences from the field, It uses this framework to demonstrate the relevance of a gender-analytical approach to the design and evaluation of a range of social protection measures that are relevant to women at different stages of their life course. These include conditional and unconditional social transfers to reduce child labour and promote children’s education, child care support for working women, financial services for the poor, employment generation through public works and different measures for old age security. The book stresses the importance of an organised voice for working women if they are to ensure that employers, trade unions and governments respond to their need for socio-economic security. Finally, the book synthesises the main lessons that emerge from the discussion and the linkages between social protection strategies and the broader macro-economic framework. A book that will be of interest to a wide range of readers—those in the fields of economics, sociology and gender studies, as also activists and policy-makers.

Learning from Experience

Learning from Experience PDF

Author: Francie Jane Lund

Publisher: International Labour Organization

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 166

ISBN-13: 9221121070

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Provides an overview of the need for social protection of women workers in the informal sector. Sketches some innovative approaches to social protection that have been undertaken by governments, community-based organizations and other non-governmental bodies; identifies gaps and priorities for future research, development programme and policy. Appendix: Case studies (Case 7: The South African Old Age Pension (SA-OAP)).

Living in the Background

Living in the Background PDF

Author: Donna L. Doane

Publisher:

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 41

ISBN-13:

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This paper examines the relationship between home-based work and persistent poverty in certain parts of South and South East Asia; the question of inter-generational poverty in the families of home-based workers; and the possibility of using social protection and other related policies as a means of helping to alleviate poverty and vulnerability among homebased workers.It looks at those elements that cause some home-based women workers and their children to remain in a situation of persistent poverty and vulnerability, and considers the contributing factors that allow others to attain some degree of security. Issues such as gender, social exclusion and economic trends are amongst the factors that can work against the well-being of home-based workers. In terms of trying to create effective policies to deal with chronic poverty among informal workers, the paper explores some of the elements that make it possible to move from a condition of institutional neglect to one of institutional support.This Working Paper draws on recent analyses and case studies carried out by researchers associated with two closely-tied networks of home-based workers in South Asia and South East Asia: HomeNet South East Asia and HomeNet South Asia, the latter in association with the Institute of Social Studies Trust (ISST). These two studies are very detailed and cover a wide range of issues, including an analysis of specific indigenous, local and national social protection schemes, as well as the influence of such considerations as local cultures and religions as they relate to the needs and coping strategies of different groups of home-based workers. This paper draws on only a small portion of the total findings of the HomeNet studies, focusing on their implications for the persistence of poverty over time.

Mainstreaming Gender in Social Protection for the Informal Economy

Mainstreaming Gender in Social Protection for the Informal Economy PDF

Author: Naila Kabeer

Publisher: Commonwealth Secretariat

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 436

ISBN-13: 9780850928402

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Explores the gendered dimensions of risk, vulnerability and insecurity and hence the need for a gender perspective in the design of social protection measures. This book provides an understanding of the constraints and barriers that confine women to more poorly remunerated, more casual and more insecure forms of waged and self-employment.

Informal and Formal Social Protection Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa

Informal and Formal Social Protection Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa PDF

Author: Melese Getu

Publisher: African Books Collective

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 318

ISBN-13: 9970252410

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"Addressing several themes in the social protection literature, this book makes an original and important contribution to the rapidly growing body of literature on social protection in sub-Saharan Africa. Some of the themes are relatively neglected or under-researched, while some others are not usually conceptualised as social protection. These themes are organized around the major issues: informal social protection, urban social protection, social protection and physical security, social protection in unstable contexts, climate change, pastoralism, and gender"--Back cover.

Women and the Informal Economy in Urban Africa

Women and the Informal Economy in Urban Africa PDF

Author: Mary Njeri Kinyanjui

Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.

Published: 2014-06-12

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 1780326335

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In this highly original work, Mary Njeri Kinyanjui explores the trajectory of women's movement from the margins of urbanization into the centres of business activities in Nairobi and its accompanying implications for urban planning. While women in much of Africa have struggled to gain urban citizenship and continue to be weighed down by poor education, low income and confinement to domestic responsibilities due to patriarchic norms, a new form of urban dynamism - partly informed by the informal economy - is now enabling them to manage poverty, create jobs and link to the circuits of capital and labour. Relying on social ties, reciprocity, sharing and collaboration, women's informal 'solidarity entrepreneurialism' is taking them away from the margins of business activity and catapulting them into the centre. Bringing together key issues of gender, economic informality and urban planning in Africa, Kinyanjui demonstrates that women have become a critical factor in the making of a postcolonial city.

Realizing the Full Potential of Social Safety Nets in Africa

Realizing the Full Potential of Social Safety Nets in Africa PDF

Author: Kathleen Beegle

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2018-07-02

Total Pages: 418

ISBN-13: 1464811660

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Poverty remains a pervasive and complex phenomenon in Sub-Saharan Africa. Part of the agenda in recent years to tackle poverty in Africa has been the launching of social safety nets programs. All countries have now deployed safety net interventions as part of their core development programs. The number of programs has skyrocketed since the mid-2000s though many programs remain limited in size. This shift in social policy reflects the progressive evolution in the understanding of the role that social safety nets can play in the fight against poverty and vulnerability, and more generally in the human capital and growth agenda. Evidence on their impacts on equity, resilience, and opportunity is growing, and makes a foundational case for investments in safety nets as a major component of national development plans. For this potential to be realized, however, safety net programs need to be significantly scaled-up. Such scaling up will involve a series of technical considerations to identify the parameters, tools, and processes that can deliver maximum benefits to the poor and vulnerable. However, in addition to technical considerations, and at least as importantly, this report argues that a series of decisive shifts need to occur in three other critical spheres: political, institutional, and fiscal. First, the political processes that shape the extent and nature of social policy need to be recognized, by stimulating political appetite for safety nets, choosing politically smart parameters, and harnessing the political impacts of safety nets to promote their sustainability. Second, the anchoring of safety net programs in institutional arrangements †“ related to the overarching policy framework for safety nets, the functions of policy and coordination, as well as program management and implementation †“ is particularly important as programs expand and are increasingly implemented through national channels. And third, in most countries, the level and predictability of resources devoted to the sector needs to increase for safety nets to reach the desired scale, through increased efficiency, increased volumes and new sources of financing, and greater ability to effectively respond to shocks. This report highlights the implications which political, institutional, and fiscal aspects have for the choice and design of programs. Fundamentally, it argues that these considerations are critical to ensure the successful scaling-up of social safety nets in Africa, and that ignoring them could lead to technically-sound, but practically impossible, choices and designs.