According to United Nations (UN) data, more than 60% of the global workforce, or 2 billion people, make their living in the informal economy.

The UN states that Covid-19 has increased the vulnerabilities of these workers, since informal employment offers no form of protection or benefits. As a result, these people are twice as likely to be poor as those in formal employment.

The United Nations reminds us that most of these people end up taking this kind of work because of the lack of opportunities. The Director-General of the International Labor Organization, ILO, Guy Ryder, says that the pandemic "has exacerbated inequalities, within and between countries, the so-called great divergence."

Guy Ryder says that economic and social divisions have increased, with people who were already disadvantaged before Covid-19 being even more affected: young people, women, migrants, and small traders.

These statements were made as part of the World Day of Social Justice yesterday, February 20th, whose motto was Achieving Social Justice through Formal Employment".