Author : Dr.r.l.poonguzhali
Keyword : Covid-19, street vendors, informal sectors, workers, protection
Subject : Economics
Article Type : Review article
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Abstract : The Covid-19 pandemic is expected to have significant impacts in terms of unemployment and underemployment, especially on informal workers. The lockdowns at country and sub-national levels, as well as the restrictions on the movement of people have led to the closure of non-essential businesses with negative outcomes on labour markets worldwide, particularly in the informal sector. The street vendors, hawkers, roaming sellers, who sold everything from food to shoes have melted down due to the sudden lockdown. Street vendors are those with low skills and mostly who have migrated to the larger cities from rural areas in search of employment. These people take up street vending when they do not find other means of livelihood. The investment is low, and this does not require training. Therefore, for men and women street vending is the right form of earning their livelihood. This abrupt lockdown has resulted in a final blow for the street vendor. According to the ILO report, in India, more than 40 crore informal workers may get pushed into deeper poverty due to Covid-19 outbreak and sectors such as hospitality and accommodation, retail and wholesale, business services, construction and industry have suffered drastic consequences with a decrease in production and loss of hours and employment. In total, 1.25 billion workers in these industries, more than a third (37.5%) of the world’s workers are at high risk. The condition of low-paid and low-skilled informal workers is very worrying in the low-income and middle-income countries where industries and services employ a large proportion of these workers, who account for 61% of the global workforce or 2 billion people and lack social protection and safety net.
Article by : Dr R L Poonguzhali
Article add date : 2021-08-01
How to cite : Dr.r.l.poonguzhali. (2021-August-01). The impact of covid-19 on street vendors. retrieved from https://www.openacessjournal.com/abstract/801