HLEG thematic workshop on Measurement of Well Being and Development in Africa, 12-14 November 2015, Durban, South Africa, More information at: www.oecd.org/statistics/measuring-economic-social-progress

1. INFORMALITY AND GENDER
SSF MEETING AT DURBAN ICC
FRANCIE LUND, WIEGO AND UKZN, 12.11.2015

2. 1 Bring together, briefly, aspects of how work is
changing, the dynamics of and relationship between
paid and unpaid care work, and how they intersect with
informal and formal employment
2 These have an impact on measurement of well being
and development, and on sustainability
 The continuumfromformal to informal paid work, with the
messy moving middle
 Paid care workin the health, education and social services
 Unpaid care work(not unpaid domestic work), largely done
by women in households

3. Why might it matter?
 If we estimate/ measure the full contribution of
women’s work, and linkages between them, we
could better understand and assess issues such
as:
 Labour as produced factor of production
 How this work has an impact on the market economy
 Reproduction of well being
 Unpaid care work viewed on its own remains
marginal
 Here, circle it in light of other changing dimensions
of paid work – paid care work, informality of much
work

4. Some terms that can cause confusion
 ‘Unpaid domestic work’ (SSF means unpaid care of own
children in home. Better to call it Unpaid Care Work
(UCW) done by family member in own home. ‘Domestic
work’ is now recognised as work, and is done in
someone else’s home, and in many countries is being
formalised.
 ‘Unpaid contributing family member’ is a status in
employment, of someone working unpaid for the family
enterprise – it is not Unpaid Care Work
 ‘Self-employed’ – self-employed and employs others
 ‘Own account’ - self-employed and who does not
employ others

5. Formal, Informal, Non-Standard
Employment
Informal work
No work-related legal or
social protection.
Majority self-employed.
Some may be in disguised
ambiguous employment.
In global South, majority
earn well below tax
threshold.
The moving middle
Includes global north and
south
Part-time, temporary,
seasonal, precarious
Lowerhourly earnings
than permanents, fewer
work-related benefits.
Formal jobs,
May be full time orpart
time. Full social benefits.
Genderpenalty/gap for
women and men with
equivalent years of
education.
But secure employment,
with lifetime bebefits
Some get access to state
benefits awarded to
people as citizens – not
as workers. (e.g. free
maternity care)
When asked why they are
in temporary rather than in
full time employment, men
say ‘I could not get a
better job’; women say,
‘for family related
reasons’.
Those with formal work
before have lost social
benefits.
Many are in teaching,
social services such as
child care, health, and
women predominate.
All interact with lesser
paid, lower status
categories of unpaid and
paid care workers, in their
work.

6. Task-shifting in nursing – frompaid work
to unpaid voluntary work
 Hierarchies in nursing
 Nurse manager
 Professional nurse
 Auxiliary nurse
 Cleaners (who do care tasks in fact)
 Care worker – paid a bit – in NGO
 Volunteers (unpaid)
 In nursing (as in other professions), from time
to time tasks get shifted from one level to
another. This can be upwards, when there has
been on-the-job0traning and specialisation.

7. Task-shifting (continued)
 It can be downward, in the face of cutbacks in staff and
spending, and/or to reach more people.
 In the context of HIV&AIDS in Africa, much of health
outreach is done by volunteers – some training, some
supervision, perhaps a stipend for transport.
 Such community workers are very largely women, who
may already spend hours a week on ‘community time’,
with organising funerals, care of children of others
 All these activities necessary for survival, well-being,
and sustainable community life..
 These patterns and trends need to be captured and
measured – and especially in health and social services.

8. The particularcase of domestic workers
 Substantial numbers of women are employed as
domestic workers worldwide.
 ILO Recommendation recognises d.w. as work.
 A number of countries ratified quickly – pushed by
organisation of domestic workers
 Some countries moved to formalisation preceding or at
the same time as the Recommendation
 Brazil – d.w.’s now have much the same conditions as other
workers
 South Africa – sectoral wage determination, basic conditions
of employment, unemployment insurance fund
 Mocambique has new state machinery for employer/
employee compliance with new d.w. legislation

9. So you get inconsistent, fragmented
situations
 Formal end, where d.w. is essentially formalised,
registered, ( ? With more likelihood of employer
allowing survey to be done in the home?)
 Messy middle, where d.w. may work part-time for a
number of different employers during the week, with little
consistency in the data that are important for the GDP
calculations – the money metric, leave alone the
indicators of well-being
 And in African countries (and elsewhere) domestic
workers themselves employ domestic workers so that
they themselves can go to work. Typically poorly paid,
or unpaid in exchange for accommodation. In household
survey, or LFS, may be identified as household member/

10. Unpaid care work
 Unpaid Care Work is unpaid production of goods and
services for final consumption by the household. It is
included and recognised in the SNA production
boundary as work.
 But it is not assessed and included in the calculation of
the GDP.
 Not having the data means not being able to estimate
the contribution of UCW to the reproduction of labour
force, to the market economy, and to overall well being,
 UCW is more difficult when poor – lack of basic
amenities, distance to public services.
Budlender, D and Moussie, R. 2013. Making Care Visible:
Nepal, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya. ActionAid.

11. Unpaid care work(cont.)
 Real improvements in the methods for assessing value
of UCW – but do rely on Time Use Surveys for how
time is allocated.
 Can be complemented by smaller studies of discounted
income related to different situations of care work
 E.g. Nina Hunter for people caring for people with HIV/ AIDS
in South Africa.

12. Concluding thoughts
 It is vital to put more energy and resources into the
measurement and estimation of value of unpaid care
work. Last decade has seen breakthroughs in how to do
this. Needs to be based on Time Use Surveys.
 Understand better the links between unpaid care work,
and different forms of informal and non-standard work,
and women’s access to the labour market.
 Understand the link between child care provision, and
women’s access to labour market. Child care services
should be close, affordable, & themselves create (low
paid) work for women.
 Cash transfers are included in assessment of cash
income, as they should be. Fulfilling conditionalities to