AS nations across the globe continue to tailor responses to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus and its disease, COVID-19, we are only just starting to see the effects that these measures are having on workers in the informal economy. The full or partial lock-down measures implemented in our nation and many others, affecting some five billion people globally, is having a number of detrimental effects on citizens who fall into this category of workers. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), there are approximately two billion informal workers, with women being over-represented in some of the most affected sectors. In Guyana, informal workers account for approximately 48.2% of the labour force, according to the most recent data from The Guyana Bureau of Statistics. With close to half of the nation’s population being informal workers, the COVID-19 epidemic stands to pose a real threat to the livelihoods of thousands of Guyanese workers.

According to a recent policy brief released by the ILO, informal enterprises are also being affected in a similar manner. With eight out of 10 enterprises in the world falling into this category, it is now clear that many more people, including many Guyanese who own informal enterprises, are being severely affected by the COVID-19 lock-down measures. The prevalence of unregistered small-scale enterprises that normally operate with few undeclared and low-skilled workers, including unpaid family members and women, now find themselves in a precarious economic position.

Whilst informal workers do not enjoy certain privileges such as social protection and health and safety measures taken in more formal enterprises, their goal remains the same: to work in order to provide for themselves and their families. These men and women cannot rely on income replacement or savings, so they must work or risk falling into further poverty. The dilemma has now become “to die from hunger or from the virus,” according to the ILO. Because those in the informal economy need to work, lockdowns and other containment measures are a source of social tension, and transgressive practices and behaviour could endanger governments’ efforts to protect the population and fight the pandemic. And without any formal announcement from the government on any type of stimulus package for this group of workers, they may further be encouraged to take their chances in order to provide for themselves and their families.

Workers in the accommodation, food service, retail and wholesale trades are among some of the most affected at this time. Additionally, the ILO estimates that some 500 million farmers who produce primarily for the urban market are also encountering difficulties. Here in Guyana, informal food markets play a pivotal role in ensuring food security, and if local farmers fall sick because of COVID-19, that could have a dramatic impact on our ability to ensure food security for many of our urban communities.
The consequences for informal workers as a result of the COVID-19 containment measures is that many would have already experienced immediate loss of incomes. And without any income-replacement stimulus packages, grants, loans or savings to rely on, informal workers are now facing an existential predicament. Do they try as best they can to adopt the government’s containment measures and continue working in whatever manner is possible, or do they stop working and risk their families falling into greater poverty? Surely, these cannot be their only options.

The ILO predicts that if there could be an expansion of the informal economy if formal mirco-enterprises are forced to close as a result of economic downturn, this could trigger a surge in unemployment and create even more informal workers.

Despite the gloomy outlook for the informal economy and its workers, the ILO has made a number of recommendations to mitigate the negative effects of the COVID-19 containment measures. Among some of those recommendations are: Reducing the exposure of workers and their families to the virus; ensuring those affected have access to healthcare and to provide income and food support to individuals and families. The ILO also suggests compensating for the loss and reduction of incomes as a result of the economic downturn.
Despite the widespread adoption of fiscal and monetary policies in other nations affected by COVID-19, we in Guyana are currently unable to rely on such easing measures due to the ongoing electoral process. However, once matters are concluded, it is hoped that fiscal and monetary policies would take priority, lest all the work we have done to grow our economy over the last few years be lost. Furthermore, government must do all in its capacity to ensure that these workers are not forgotten, as they often escape the purview of the government owing to the nature of their work.