Informal sector growth threatens decent work agenda, says ILO

THE high incidence of informality has been identified as a major challenge militating against decent work and sustainable of an inclusive development, as transition to the formal economy is a condition to realise decent work for all, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has said.

It added that the level of education is a key factor affecting the level of informality.

Globally, when the level of education increases, the level of informality decreases, as people who have com- Bonnet, “There is an urgent need to tackle informality. For hundreds of millions of workers, informality means a lack of social protection, rights at work and decent working conditions, and for enterprises it means low productivity and lack of access to finance. Data on those issues are crucial for designing appropriate and integrated policies that are tailored to the diversity of situations and needs.”

Speaking on the significance of the informal sector, an Economist, Henry Boyo, in an interview with The Guardian stated that the important issue to be tack- led is why more people are still entering into the employment market and not getting jobs?

According to Boyo, employment is employment be it in the formal or informal economy, noting that the purpose of ones’ working is to earn money.

His words: “If it so happened that people are moving from the formal to the informal economy and yet the informal sector is increasing, there is no reason to cry about unemployment so far the informal economy is creating jobs for them and they are being paid.