Editing Informal economy (section)

===Gender===
[[File:ESAF Bamboo product making unit in Dumka, Jharkhand.jpg|thumb|left|A group of Indian women making bamboo products they intend to sell in Dumka, Jharkhand]]
[[File:A girl selling plastic containers for carrying Ganges water, Haridwar.jpg|thumb|150px|A girl selling plastic containers for carrying Ganges water, [[Haridwar]], India]]

In developing countries,  most of the female non-[[agricultural]] labor force is in the informal sector.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cpahq.org/cpahq/cpadocs/module6mc.pdf |title=Women in the Informal Sector : A Global Picture, the Global Movement |author=Martha Alter Chen |website=Cpahq.org |access-date=2016-10-20 |archive-date=2019-09-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190924010418/http://www.cpahq.org/cpahq/cpadocs/module6mc.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Female representation in the informal sector is attributed to a variety of factors. One such factor is that [[employment]] in the informal sector is the source of employment that is most readily available to women.<ref name=":0" /> A 2011 study of poverty in Bangladesh noted that cultural norms, religious seclusion, and illiteracy among women in many developing countries, along with a greater commitment to family responsibilities, prevent women from entering the formal sector.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Jahiruddin|first1=ATM|last2=Short|first2=Patricia|last3=Dressler|first3=Wolfram|last4=Khan|first4=Adil|date=2011|title=Can Microcredit Worsen Poverty? Cases of Exacerbated Poverty in Bangladesh|journal=Development in Practice|volume=21|issue=8|pages=1109–1121|doi=10.1080/09614524.2011.607155|s2cid=154952803}}</ref>

Major occupations in the informal sector include home-based workers (such as dependent subcontract workers, independent own account producers, and unpaid workers in family businesses) and [[street vendors]], which both are classified in the informal sector.<ref name=":0">Chen, M (2001) "Women in the informal sector: a global picture, the global movementt."
SAIS Review 21(1).</ref> Women tend to make up the greatest portion of the informal sector, often ending up in the most erratic and corrupt segments of the sector.<ref name="UNRISD 2010. pp. 5-33" /> In India, women working in the informal sector often work as [[ragpicker]]s, [[domestic workers]], coolies, vendors, beauticians, construction laborers, and garment workers.

According to a 2002 study commissioned by the ILO, the connection between employment in the informal economy and being poor is stronger for women than men.<ref name=":5" /> While men tend to be over-represented in the top segment of the informal sector, women overpopulate the bottom segment.<ref name=":5" /><ref name="UNRISD 2010. pp. 5-33" /> Men are more likely to have larger-scale operations and deal in non-perishable items while few women are employers who hire others.<ref name=":5" /> Instead, women are more likely to be involved in smaller-scale operations and trade food items.<ref name=":5" /> Women are under-represented in higher-income employment positions in the informal economy and over-represented in lower-income statuses.<ref name=":5" /> As a result, the gender gap in terms of wage is higher in the informal sector than the formal sector.<ref name=":5" /> [[Labor markets]], household decisions, and states all propagate this [[gender inequality]].<ref name="UNRISD 2010. pp. 5-33" />