Informal employment in high-income countries for a health inequalities research: A scoping review

Article type: Review Article

Authors: Julià, Mireia^{a; b; *} | Tarafa, Gemma^{a; b; c} | O’Campo, Patricia^d | Muntaner, Carles^{a; e} | Jódar, Pere^f | Benach, Joan^{a; b; c}

Affiliations: [a] Health Inequalities Research Group, Employment Conditions Knowledge Network (GREDS-EMCONET), Department of Political and Social Science, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain | [b] Johns Hopkins University – Universitat Pompeu Fabra Public Policy Center, Barcelona, Spain | [c] Transdisciplinary Research Group on Socioecological Transitions (GinTRANS2).Universidad Autónoma, Madrid, Spain | [d] The Centre for Research on Inner City Health, The Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St.Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Canada | [e] Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Division of Social and Behavioural Health Sciences, University of Toronto, Canada | [f] Department of Political and Social Science, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain

Correspondence: [*] Address for correspondence: Mireia Julià, Health Inequalities Research Group. Employment Conditions Knowledge Network. Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Edifici Mercè Rodoreda - Campus Ciutadella, C/ Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27 08005 Barcelona, Spain. Tel.: +34 93 542 26 12; E-mail: [email protected].

Abstract: BACKGROUND:Informal employment (IE) is one of the least studied employment conditions in public health research, mainly due to the difficulty of its conceptualization and its measurement, producing a lack of a unique concept and a common method of measurement. OBJECTIVE:The aim of this review is to identify literature on IE in order to improve its definition and methods of measurement, with special attention given to high-income countries, to be able to study the possible impact on health inequalities within and between countries. METHODS:A scoping review of definitions and methods of measurement of IE was conducted reviewing relevant databases and grey literature and analyzing selected articles. RESULTS:We found a wide spectrum of terms for describing IE as well as definitions and methods of measurement. We provide a definition of IE to be used in health inequalities research in high-income countries. Direct methods such as surveys can capture more information about workers and firms in order to estimate IE. CONCLUSIONS:These results can be used in further investigations about the impacts of this IE on health inequalities. Public health research must improve monitoring and analysis of IE in order to know the impacts of this employment condition on health inequalities.

Keywords: Informal sector, high-income populations, public health, health equity, employment conditions

DOI: 10.3233/WOR-152176

Journal: Work, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 347-356, 2016