Region: The Americas

God is My Alarm Clock: A Brazilian Waste Picker’s Story

The story of an informal worker, Mrs. Maria Brás, who was a tireless force in the struggle of waste pickers in Brazil to overcome persecution...

Statistics on Informal Employment in Brazil

This brief summarizes statistics on poverty and employment – and, in particular, on urban informal employment – in Brazil.

Statistics on Domestic Workers in Latin America

Domestic work is an important occupation, involving a significant proportion of the workforce in Latin America.  

Executive Summary – Informal Economy Monitoring Study: Waste Pickers in Bogotá, Colombia

Forging a New Conceptualization of “The Public” in Waste Management

The involvement of informal workers in municipal service delivery is generally theorized and studied as a key component of a neoliberal privatization...

Gathering Occupational Health Data from Informal Workers: The Brazilian Experience

Abstract: This study describes how occupational health data have been gathered by the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) to provide morbidity...

Statistics on Street Vendors and Market Traders in Metropolitan Lima and Urban Peru

Based on this survey, the brief reviews trends in street vending and market trade in Lima and in urban Peru between 2004 and 2015. It also...

World at work: Brazilian ragpickers

IDRC Final Report: Legal Empowerment of the Working Poor

Summary of three-country study of law and the working poor, funded by IDRC (November 2011-March 2013)

Working in Large Food Retailers in France and the USA: The Key Role of InstitutionsWork Employment & Society

Abstract: Despite numerous similarities between the food retail sectors of France and the USA, there are significant contrasts in the jobs,...