Let's clear up a few misconceptions:
From Wikipedia
Normally, the labor force of a country (or other geographic entity) consists of everyone of working age (typically above a certain age (around 14 to 16) and below retirement (around 65) who are participating workers, that is people actively employed or seeking employment. People not counted include students, retired people, stay-at-home parents, people in prisons or similar institutions, people employed in jobs or professions with unreported income, as well as discouraged workers who cannot find work.
Formal and informal labor
Formal labor is any sort of employment that is structured and paid in a formal way.[6] Unlike the informal sector of the economy, formal labor within a country contributes to that country’s gross national product.[7] Informal labor is labor that falls short of being a formal arrangement in law or in practice.[8] Informal labor can be paid or unpaid and it is always unstructured and unregulated.[9] Formal employment is more reliable than informal employment. Generally, the former yields higher income and greater benefits and securities for both men and women.[10]
[edit] Informal labor in the world
The contribution of informal laborers is immense. Informal labor is expanding globally, most significantly in developing countries.[11] According to a study done by Jacques Charmes, in the year 2000 informal labor made up 57% of non-agricultural employment, 40% of urban employment, and 83% of the new jobs in Latin America. That same year, informal labor made up 78% of non-agricultural employment, 61% of urban employment, and 93% of the new jobs in Africa.[12] Particularly after an economic crisis, laborers tend to shift from the formal sector to the informal sector.
Paid and unpaid labor
Paid and unpaid work are also closely related with formal and informal labor. Some informal work is unpaid, or paid under the table.[15] Unpaid work can be work that is done at home to sustain a family, like child care work, or actual habitual daily labor that is not monetarily rewarded, like working the fields.[14] Unpaid workers have zero earnings, and although their work is valuable, it is hard to estimate its true value. Feminists have worked long and hard to come up with a way of monetizing and bringing value to women’s unpaid labor.[14] The controversial debate still stands. Men and women tend to work in different areas of the economy, regardless of whether their work is paid or unpaid. Women focus on the service sector, while men focus on the industrial sector.
