to pinpoint precisely, according to Biles, in Latin America, increasingly, the informal workers decide to
remain in informality as a livelihood strategy – opting out of the formal sector as a more flexible way of generating income (Biles, 2008). With all the existing vulnerabilities in informal employment, it is clear that governments must take an active role in protecting these groups, thereby preserving their human capital and enhancing their development potential. One crucial path towards doing this is by providing the necessary safety nets and inclusion in social protection systems. We explore these two notions in more detail below.
1.1.
Colombian informal labor market
Informality is common in Colombia as in the rest of Latin America. According to the Large Integrated Household Survey (GEIH) issued by the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), the
percentage of informal employment 1 represented 48% out of the total number of employees in Colombia for the quarter July-September 2020 (JS) at the aggregate of the 23 main cities and metropolitan areas in the country. Moreover, at a national level, the proportion of informal employees of the total employees remained almost at a constant average of 47.9% after the first COVID-19 outbreak in Colombia, as for the quarter December-February 2019-2020 (DF).
According to the GEIH database, from the principal cities in Colombia, the country's interior cities tend
to have a percentage of informal employment below the average of 48%. This is the case of the country's capital Bogotá (41%), and other major cities such as Medellin (41%). In contrast, peripheral cities tend to have
above-average percentages (Cartagena (57%), Barranquilla (57%), Cali (50%), Quibdó (58%), and Cúcuta (70%)). This can be seen graphically in Appendix A7, which shows the evolution of the percentage of
informality for selected major cities before and after the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, behind the steady trend in the percentage of informal employees, there was a 23% drop (1’140.000
individuals) in the number of informal employees in Colombia between the quarter before and after the first COVID-19 outbreak (DF and JS). The trend has remained constant, as the drop in the total number of employees was equivalent (22% or 2’350.000 employees).
When disaggregating informal employees by subgroups, it can be observed that the order of
representativeness regarding gender, education, occupational position, social security coverage and domain of the activity of work is similar before and after the COVID-19 outbreak. However, it will be shown an exception when considering the disaggregation by workplace. Inspecting the gender composition, the informal working population in Colombia is characterized by a higher percentage of men than women,
whose average share by sex did not change after the onset of the pandemic. Still, the gap between men and women increased (see Appendix A8). The principal economic activity of informal workers is the trade
and repair of vehicles (30%). Furthermore, regarding the workplace of the informal workers, for the quarter JS in 2020, the biggest group was people who work from fixed premises (29%). As expected, the percentages
of the disaggregation for the workplace criterion did change due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Specifically, the percentage of informal workers who work from home increased from 16% to 21%, while the percentage of workers who work from other people's homes fell from 20% to 18% (see Appendix A9). This is one of the only
1 DANE defines the Informally Employed Population as people with the following characteristics: Individual employees and laborers working in establishments, businesses or enterprises employing up to five persons in all their
agencies and branches, including the employer and/or partner; Family workers without remuneration; Workers without remuneration in enterprises or businesses of other households; Domestic workers; Day laborers; Self-employed workers who work in establishments with up to five people, except professional freelancers; Employers in enterprises with five workers or less; Government workers or employees are excluded.
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