Labor informality in Peru reaches 75%

A study by the International Labor Organization (ILO) determined that the labor informality in Peru it passed the 70% threshold.

Although this reading for the second quarter of 2022, which places us with the second highest rate in Latin America, is similar to the INEI data for September of last year (70.9%) -its last evaluation at the national level-, The ILO warns that the outlook will become more complicated, despite the macroeconomic recovery after the pandemic, due to global inflation and the geopolitical conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Precarious prevails

Currently, the recovery of employment has been occupied between 40% and 80% by informality; and, in the Peruvian case, the mass in precarious conditions is 75%.

“One in two employed people in the region is in informal conditions“, warned Claudia Coenjaertsregional director of the ILO for Latam and the Caribbean.

Heterogeneity

Within the informality rates, in the case of peruvian womenthis is close to the threshold of 80% while in men it is 70%.

Although at the regional level, after the female workforce has been the most affected by the health crisis, there is an increase in the employment rate of women compared to that of men: 24.4% compared to 18.8 %, respectively.

However, women with a lower educational level continue to lag further behind compared to 2019, weighing down falls of 29% in their occupation and 27% in participation, compared to the decrease of 18% and 16% for men for both criteria.

Raising wages is key

roxana maurizioILO labor economist for the region, pointed out that the pandemic demonstrated how positive it was to implement strategies to support households in vulnerable situations (bonuses), as well as how essential it would be to institutionalize the increase in the minimum wage, not only in Peru but also in other countries complicated by inequalities.

At your discretion”Strategies are needed in a coherent framework so that they can, jointly, give answers and important steps in the creation of formal jobs (…) which will go hand in hand with greater coverage of institutions such as the minimum wage and collective bargaining. The reinforcement of these will play an important role in the recovery and challenges,” Maurizio said in dialogue with the press. Finally, he specified that probably 50% of workers in Latam would not have access to these political instruments because they are subject to informality. Here are the working poor.

poor worker syndrome

According to the ILO, the fractional recovery of employment – ​​where the precarious prevails in a large part of the region – evidenced a new reality: the poor worker syndromewhere citizens live in conditions of vulnerability while still being formal.

Although it is between three and four times more likely that an informal person falls into poverty before his counterpart.

This is complicated by the deterioration in the value of real wages in the face of high inflation –seen since mid-2021– and the loss of the purchasing power of this income to meet basic needs.