Informal Employment in Advanced Economies - Implications for Work and Welfare (Paperback, New)

Informal employment, whether the result of tax evasion or working whilst claiming benefit, is an issue rapidly rising to the top of government policy agendas. This book challenges many of the popular myths surrounding informal economic activities, offering a radical reconceptualization of their extent, growth, location and nature as well as evaluating the contrasting policy options open to governments. First, it tackles the popular belief that informal employment is growing throughout the advanced economies. Second it challenges the myth that this work is undertaken mostly by marginalized groups such as the unemployed, poor, ethnic minorities and immigrants and in deprived neighbourhoods. Third, it evaluates the dominant view that we should replace informal with formal employment through enforcement of stringent laws and regulations concerning tax evasion, benefit fraud and the contravention of labour laws.