Australian Development Gateway

The Australian Development Gateway (ADG) strives to support members of the development community in their efforts to reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development in the Asia Pacific region. The site has been created with participation from members of government, private, academia and non-government organisations. User feedback mechanisms have been incorporated to guide future directions of the site. The site is optimised for low bandwidth access to enable the widest participation throughout the Asia Pacific region.

Skip to content

ADG channels:

Information by sector: Practice / Effectiveness

Sub navigation

ADG TOOLBOX

Gender & Development

Progress of the world's women 2005: women, work and poverty

This report makes the case for an increased focus on women's informal employment as a key pathway to reducing poverty and strengthening women's economic security.

It provides the latest available data on the size and composition of the informal economy and compares national data on average earnings and poverty risk across different segments of the informal and formal workforces in six developing countries and one developed country to show the links between employment, gender and poverty. It looks at the costs and benefits of informal work and their consequences for women's economic security.

Finally, it provides a strategic framework - with good practice examples - for how to promote decent work for women informal workers, and shows why strong organizations of workers in the informal economy are vital to effective policy reforms.

 

Footer: