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By informal employment is meant working without contract, health or social insurance. Informal self
employment is considered the case of work without
registration, license, social or health insurance. Taking these criteria into consideration, the data shows that
96.9% of the self employed females are employed on an
informal basis.
The ratio of female employees and workers, who are working
informally is lower than the ratio of male workers and
employees, who are working informally. The reason behind
that is the relatively high percentage of professional
females in the government in Greater Cairo, who have a
formal working contract, while the main occupation for men
in Greater Cairo was handicraft occupations, which can be
easily undertaken in an informal way.
This is not the case for self employed females, whose ratio
in the informal sector is far higher than the self employed
males. The informal sector is an easy entrance to the labor
market for the poor, the illiterates as well as housewives
to obtain an income for subsistence needs. Informal
self-employment applies to working
without registration, bookkeeping and no
textbooks. |
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Formal and Informal Employment
|
|
Workers and Employees |
Sex |
Total |
Male
|
Female
|
Count
|
Col%
|
Col %
|
Col %
|
Formal |
46.1 |
66.8
|
1224
|
50.3
|
Informal |
53.9
|
33.2
|
933
|
49.7
|
Total |
100%
|
100%
|
2157
|
100%
|
|
| |
|
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Self-Employment (Formal / Informal )
|
| |
Self- Employed |
Sex |
Total |
Male
|
Female
|
Count
|
Col%
|
Col %
|
Col %
|
Formal |
19.7 |
3.1
|
102
|
17.9
|
Informal |
80.3
|
96.9
|
407
|
82.1
|
Total |
100%
|
100%
|
572
|
100%
|
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|
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Comparative Analysis of Women in Business by Formality: |
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The following tables present some comparative
characteristics related to the status of women in formal and
informal business:
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|
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Poor
socioeconomic conditions are the main characteristics of
the females in the informal sector. |
|
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Using a
socioeconomic index, the sample in this survey was
classified into poor, middle and high socioeconomic
class. (The index is calculated by El Laithy, H. in
Nassar, H. and El Laithy,
H. 2000). More than a third of the
self employed females and the females employers in the
informal sector are considered poor in comparison to
9.5% of the formal sector. An explanation
may be found in the women's educational structure,
while 10% of the females in the formal sector are with
university degree, this ratio goes down to 1.6% for those
in the informal sector. This finding will explain many
other facts such as differences in income and in conditions of work. |
|
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Basic Characteristics of the
Self Employed Females in the Informal Sector
|
|
Items
|
Formality |
Total |
Formal
|
Informal
|
Col%
|
Poverty Index
|
Col %
|
Col %
|
Low
|
9.5 |
36.6
|
31.7
|
Middle
|
31.6
|
41.0
|
39.3
|
Highest
|
58.9
|
22.4
|
29.0
|
Total %
|
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
Count
|
102
|
461
|
|
Categories of Age
|
15-
|
-
|
1.6
|
1.5
|
20-
|
-
|
3.7
|
3.6
|
25-
|
-
|
4.6
|
4.5
|
30-
|
50.0
|
20.3
|
21.2
|
40-
|
-
|
38.9
|
37.7
|
50-
|
50.0
|
21.1
|
22.0
|
60+
|
-
|
9.5
|
9.5
|
Total
|
100
|
100
|
100
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Levels of Education
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Illiterate
|
-
|
63.1
|
61.1
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Read & write
|
50.0
|
18.7
|
19.7
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Primary general
|
-
|
6.6
|
6.4
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Preparatory general
|
-
|
6.4
|
6.2
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Secondary general
|
-
|
1.6
|
1.5
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Secondary Vocational
|
50.0
|
2.1
|
2.0
|
University
|
50.0
|
1.6
|
3.1
|
Total
|
100
|
100
|
100
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Marital Status
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Never Married
|
-
|
8.3
|
8.1
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Married with children
|
50.0
|
60.9
|
60.6
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Divorced- Separated
|
-
|
6.9
|
6.7
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Widowed
|
50.0
|
23.9
|
24.7
|
Total
|
100
|
100
|
100
|
|
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The age
structure of those who have formal business differs
from those who have informal business. Informal
business can easily start in early years, young people
are more ready for such kind of activities to enable
them in entering the labor market. In the case of
formal business, the age structure of females in this
sector increases on average. |
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Work in the
informal sector is shorter in duration than
work in the formal sector. |
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Informal
business is a short-term solution for poverty and a
means for survival. Almost 39.1 per cent of the
females in the informal sector have a working life
less than 3 years, 50% of those working in the formal
sector were self employed for a period extending
till 20 years and more.
100% of the females in the formal sector work in an
establishment, while 36% of those working in the
informal sector experience their business outside an
establishment. This is an expected result as most of
those in the informal sector are either street vendors
or handicraft workers. |
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Duration and Place of Work for Women in Business by Formality |
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Items
|
Formality |
Total |
Formal
|
Informal
|
Col%
|
Col %
|
Col %
|
How many years have you been
working?
|
Less than one year
|
-
|
8.2
|
7.9
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1-
|
-
|
19.5
|
18.9
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3-
|
-
|
10.4
|
10.1
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5-
|
50.0
|
14.7
|
15.8
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10-
|
-
|
29.8
|
28.8
|
20-
|
50.0
|
14.4
|
15.5
|
30-
|
-
|
3.0
|
2.9
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Total %
|
100
|
100
|
100
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Place of Work
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Inside an establishment
|
100
|
63.7
|
64.8
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Outside an establishment
|
-
|
36.3
|
35.2
|
Total
|
100
|
100
|
100
|
|
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|
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Formal female
business is concentrated in trade and production
activities only, while informal activities are spread
among trade, services and production activities. |
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Private informal services
might be the domain for many women. Such services
include cooking and sewing, private teaching and other
service activities.
These activities might be more suitable for women
engaged in informal business than other economic
activities such as production activities, which need
more financial resources as well as the adoption of
more sophisticated production techniques, raw
materials, labor, marketing facilities .. etc. In many
cases these requirements are difficult to acquire and
to a large extent have to be performed on a formal
basis. |
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|
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Economic Activity of Self –Employed Formal/Informal |
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Items
|
Formality |
Total |
Formal
|
Informal
|
Col%
|
Col %
|
Col %
|
Economic Activity
|
Trade
|
50.0
|
72.3
|
71.6
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Services
|
-
|
21.4
|
20.8
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Production
|
50.0
|
6.2
|
7.6
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Total %
|
100
|
100
|
100
|
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Although
information on second jobs are usually underreported, data
shows that only women with informal business have a second job.
This is due to the low return of work in the informal sector .
This second job can take the form of informal business or
informal employment.
|
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|
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|
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Items
|
Formality |
Total |
Formal
|
Informal
|
Col%
|
Col %
|
Col %
|
Do you Have a second Job?
|
Yes
|
-
|
6.9
|
6.7
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No
|
100
|
93.1
|
93.3
|
Total %
|
100
|
100
|
100
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Where do you practice your second
job?
|
In another project of her’s
|
-
|
23.2
|
23.2
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In the private sector as an employee
|
-
|
53.5
|
53.5
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In the public sector
|
|
23.2
|
23.2
|
Total
|
100
|
100
|
100
|
|
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Mobility is higher for some
women in informal business than women in formal business, as a few
of the latter category had a previous work. This can be explained by
the fact that they start their business in early years than those in
formal business.
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Moreover, the following table shows that almost all
women in informal business worked without a license.
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|
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|
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Items
|
Formality |
Total |
Formal
|
Informal
|
Col%
|
Col %
|
Col %
|
How many times did you change work
during the last 5 years?
|
None
|
100.0
|
92.8
|
93.0
|
1
|
-
|
5.8
|
5.6
|
10
|
-
|
1.4
|
1.4
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Total %
|
100
|
100
|
100
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How many times did you (as
enterprise owner) work without license during the last 5
years?
|
0
|
100.0
|
19.5
|
22.0
|
1
|
-
|
1.6
|
1.5
|
3
|
- |
3.5
|
3.4
|
4
|
- |
5.3
|
5.1
|
5
|
- |
3.7
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3.6
|
6
|
- |
2.9
|
2.8
|
9
|
- |
2.1
|
2.0
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All my life
|
- |
61.4
|
59.5
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Total
|
100
|
100
|
100
|
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Conditions of work by formality show that one fifth of women
in informal business work less than six hours per days,
while 50% of them are working more than eight hours per day.
However 83 % of women in informal business work the whole
week in comparison to 40.5% of women in formal business.
This could be a result of lower incomes in informal
business, which leads the women in this sector to work more
days as well as more hours to obtain higher incomes.
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|
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Conditions of Work for Women in Business by Formality |
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Items
|
Formality |
Total |
Formal
|
Informal
|
Col%
|
Col %
|
Col %
|
How many hours do you work per day?
|
Less than 6 Hr.
|
|
20.2
|
19.3
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6-8 Hr.
|
69.1
|
29.1
|
30.1
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8+
|
30.9
|
50.7
|
50.7
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Total %
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100
|
100
|
100
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How many days do you work per week?
|
5
|
49.7
|
|
2.2
|
6
|
9.8
|
16.9
|
16.1
|
7
|
40.5
|
83.1
|
81.6
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Total
|
100
|
100
|
100
|
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Differences in income received is quite striking between both
categories of women, as incomes from formal business are
almost twice the amount women in informal business receive and
60% of those in informal business report that their income is
insufficient. |
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|
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Mean
Income of Women In Business by Formality |
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Items
|
Formality |
Total |
Formal
|
Informal
|
Col%
|
Col %
|
Col %
|
Mean Income (per month)
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875
|
1553
|
1523
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Is your income enough to cover your
family needs?
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Yes
|
100
|
39.9
|
42.5
|
No
|
-
|
60.1
|
57.5
|
Total
|
100
|
100
|
100
|
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Concluding Remarks |
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| Special attention
should be given to women in informal business as they come
from lower socioeconomic environment, work relatively more
days and hours per week on average and receive less incomes.
They do not have any bargaining power as none of them is in
women associations. Hence three main recommendations can be
suggested: |
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Special kinds of
associations for women in informal business should be
developed such as SEWA in India. |
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Procedures to
formalize women’s business should be facilitated and means for
tax exemptions for small and micro business must be developed.
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Integration and
linkages between women in informal business and those formal
business should be studied and supported. Linkages are a mean
for outreach and sustainability for small business. |
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More
Resources On Informal Economy: |
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