Non Agricultural Market Access

For the poor, the world has always been an insecure place. However, with bad economic conditions loosening community ties and straining family-based mutual aid, insecurity and anxiety inevitably increase. Insecurity also increases under economic conditions that 'split' the economy, favouring those with access to education, financial and other resources, but hurting those without this access and connection.

Among the most vulnerable in developing countries are those who work in the informal economy, those who work outside of established office, shop and factory settings, and are unprotected (effectively, if not on paper) by labour or social protection legislation. Among the most vulnerable of informal workers are informal women workers, as they consistently earn less than their male counterparts and often have to work on an irregular or seasonal basis due to their gender- assigned responsibilities. In bad economic times, they are likely to find that job orders on which much or all of their family's income depends can shrink or even disappear entirely.

full text from the Women in Action Issue on Market Fundamentalism, 3:2005