Informalization, the informal economy and Urban women's livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa since the 1990s

Abstract

This chapter examines urban women’s livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa within the context of economic liberalization, the growing informalization of labour relations and an exponential growth of the informal economy. While historically much of the urban labour force has operated within the informal economy and its interface with the formal, the particular processes of informalization since the economic liberalization of the 1980s are worthy of attention because their impacts on the character, structure and quality of Africa’s urban economies and livelihoods have been signifi cant. Livelihoods in most of Africa are rural, agrarian and household-based and employ traditional technologies. However, the rapid pace of urbanization and the exponential growth of aspects of the urban informal economy underscore its increasing importance. Urban women’s livelihoods are of particular interest because they best illustrate the segmentation and workings of the informal economy. The differences in women’s and men’s location also have a bearing on gender inequalities in the wider economy and society.