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22 November, 2023

Faces and imaginaries of labor informality in Chile – Criteria – October 2023

The study is based on a national survey carried out with 2,000 people, which covers perceptions, motivations and reasons for labor informality. In Chile, 26.7% of the labor market is informal (INE), so reducing this percentage is a relevant challenge to increase pensions.

The first section of the report “The faces of labor informality: an ethnographic approach” is based on the following points:

  1. Dimensions of how informality is experienced: i) It is not an identity; ii) it is a space that is lived with dignity; iii) it is not arrived voluntarily but appears; and iv) it is a blurry and intermittent space.
  2. People are informal because: i) search for independence; ii) labor ruptures; iii) you can’t always be formal; iv) culture of informality; and v) low incentives for formalization.
  3. There are different types of informal people: there is the informal adventurer, the entrepreneur, the natural and the unexpected.

The second section “Citizen imaginaries about labor informality” finds that:

  1. 64% would choose to work independently if they could freely choose between being independent or dependent.
  2. Regarding the phrase “people who work informally have a better salary than someone who works under a contract,” 27% responded in agreement, 19% in disagreement, and 54% neither agree nor disagree.
  3. In relation to their preferences for a type of work, 70% prefer a job with rigid hours but with guaranteed health and retirement, versus, with 30%, having flexible schedules even if they do not have guaranteed health and retirement.
  4. Finally, among the causes of informality, 70% responded that they agreed that it is due to low salaries, being the cause with the highest percentage.
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