Mainstreaming the Informal Economy in South Africa: A Gender Perspective Trade Union Policy Responses (1994-2001)

Publisher: 
RAU University
Author: 
Armstrong Dlamini
Published Date: 
2002
Abstract: 

The informal economy has been characterized by a high level of participation by women.  Therefore a discussion of the informal economy is intertwined with the work of women.  Results of the October (199) Household Survey showed that among employed women, the largest portion was in elementary (19.4%), domestic (17.8%) and clerical occupations (16.3%) whereas among employed men the largest portion (19.6%) was in artisan and craft related occupations.  However both women's work and the informal sector have largely been discounted as marginal to the ‘real' economy and therefore been historically neglected in most scholarship on the economy and the labour market.