Measuring Informal Employment in South Africa: The New Quarterly Labour Force Survey

By:
Debbie Budlender
Date:
  • Subtitle: WIEGO Statistical Brief No. 7

Measuring Informal Employment in South Africa

This briefing note discusses how the changes introduced in the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) will affect

(a) how the informal sector and informal employment are or can be defined for analysis purposes, and

(b) comparability of estimates based on QLFS data with earlier estimates based on Labour Force Survey (LFS) data.

Researchers James Heintz and Dorrit Posel produced estimates of both the informal sector and informal employment. Researcher Gabrielle Wills’ work focused on informal employment rather than on the informal sector.

This note discusses both concepts – informal sector and informal employment – in terms of question (a) above, but only informal employment in terms of question (b).

This brief is part of the WIEGO Publication Series.

 

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