Reports / Reports

A Human Lens On the Lives of Informal Workers

It’s easier than you think to hide in plain sight. To be everywhere and nowhere. To become so ingrained in the fabric of a city, an economy, a world, that you are both integral to a place, and on its fringes.

The informal workforce often falls into this “in between”– the woman selling mangoes on the side of the road; the domestic worker sweeping the drive with a quiet focus; the young man picking through yesterday’s garbage in the pre-dawn darkness, a clank of a can the only indicator of his presence.

While the lives of informal workers may differ depending on country, culture and profession, the ambitions and desires of these individuals are universal.