- Wednesday November 1st, 2023
- Posted by: inscameroun
- Category:
Labour and working conditions in the informal sector
The employee rate is low in the informal sector. In fact, only 6 workers out of 100 are wage earners. This low level of employee rate is more significant in industry (9.6%) than in services (4.7%) and trade (3.3%). The IPU labour force is mainly comprised of self-employed workers (78.3%). This proportion is higher in the female labour force (85.1%) compared to male labour (70.6%). The service sector (35.0%) is the one with most workers in the informal sector. A little more than half of workers (52.3%) in the informal sector have an employment contract, i.e. 2.1% who have a written contract and 50.2% who have a verbal contract (membership or mutual agreement). Distribution of workers in the informal sector by weekly working time shows that a little more than one worker out of five works less than 20 hours per week and almost half (47.2%) more than 40 hours. In addition, these workers work 40.5 hours per week on average. This average time varies according to the area of residence. Workers in urban areas work 44.5 hours per week on average compared to 33.1 hours in rural areas. The average number of years of education for workers is about 6.6 years, i.e. the equivalent of a first year of secondary education. The average seniority in the production unit is 7.3 years. In addition, three workers out of four learned their trade on their own or through practice. The average age of workers in the informal sector is 35.7 years. It varies from 37.8 years in the trade sector to 34.4 years in industry, and 35.0 years in services The average income of workers in the informal sector is 83,409 CFA francs per month. It varies from 96,367 CFA francs for workers in urban areas to 59,520 CFA francs for those in rural areas. One hour of labour in this sector brings in an average of 669 CFA francs as employment income. The average monthly income of employers (181,200 CFA francs) is virtually double that of self-employed workers (93,500 CFA francs).