Paper short abstract:

This paper assesses how employment dynamics within the informal economy impact workers during global crises. It draws on research conducted by WIEGO and partner organizations on the cost of living crisis and ongoing climate change monitoring work in Bangkok, Thailand.

Paper long abstract:

Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) has long mapped the differentiated impact of crises on specific groups of workers in urban informal employment. More recently, it has monitored the Covid 19 pandemic, the cost of living crisis and now climate change impacts on livelihoods (Alfers et al, 2022; Valdivia et al, 2024).

This paper aims to contribute to discussions of how employment dynamics and risks within the informal economy impact workers during multifaceted global crises (Dodman et al., 2023; Feriga et al., 2024). It draws on two elements of WIEGO’s monitoring work with partner HomeNet Thailand - the cost of living crisis and ongoing climate change monitoring work in Bangkok. Both action research processes, anchored on WIEGO’s knowledge co-production principles (Ogando and Harvey, 2020; Pacheco-Vega and Parizeau, 2018, Puig de la Bellacasa, 2017), involve participatory focus groups, mobile phone surveys and key informant interviews with street vendors and home-based workers.

The paper synthesizes findings based on workers’ lived experiences and perceptions to center agency and situated knowledge. It particularly focuses on how access to space, urban infrastructure and resources are not only mediated by status in employment, gender, and age, but play a role in resilience. The paper includes methodological reflections on research design that can strengthen an intersectional lens and capacity-building in the research process. The paper concludes with critical reflections on the advocacy pathways to integrate community-driven solutions and inform inclusive and sustainable urban policies.