Labor informality during the pandemic: Crisis and recovery in Mexico

Abstract

Informality is a structural feature of the Mexican labor market of great quantitative and qualitative importance. However, largely due to the confinement of the population, millions of informal jobs were lost in the first months of the pandemic, leading to the relative formalization of the labor market. Subsequent percentages of informality have reached the same levels as prior to the economic crisis. In this article we analyze the evolution of informality during the first year of the pandemic and examine its determinants during this period using a logit model. The analysis illustrates some of the characteristics of the uneven recovery of the Mexican labor market.

Informalidad laboral: Un análisis integral de las causas y factores que perpetúan su existencia

“…Débil aplicación de las leyes y reglamentos laborales, lo que permite relaciones laborales informales con bajos salarios y malas condiciones de trabajo. (Hualde y Ayala, 2022;Williams, 2015). Falta de oportunidades laborales formales, bajos niveles de educación y habilidades, pobreza y dificultades económicas, protección y beneficios sociales inadecuados, impuestos y regulaciones altos, discriminación y exclusión social, y normas culturales y sociales que favorecen los arreglos laborales informales (Kesar et al 2022) Políticas del mercado laboral, el acceso a la financiación, la educación y la formación, la protección social y los marcos legales (Sultana et al 2022) Oportunidades laborales formales insuficientes en el sector formal.…”

Earning our place: How we can use interdisciplinary collaborations to move forward with sustainable development goals

“…Furthermore, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that around 60% of the world is involved in some part of the informal sector (IMF, 2021). In the United States, estimates for participation in the informal economy currently lie around 40%, and in Mexico, informal workers make up around 50% of the working population (Alfaro & Correa, 2021; Bracha & Burke, 2014). By these numbers alone, it could be argued that failing to study informal work is a failure to understand what work is in these contexts.…”