In Zim Workers In The Informal Sector Are Relatively Well Educated

although they tend to be less educated than their formal counterparts

By World Bank

About 98 percent of workers in the informal sector have completed primary school, with more than three-quarters of workers in the informal sector having completed lower secondary school.

Only a small share of informal workers has completed vocational (4 percent) and tertiary education (5 percent).

There are noticeable differences between workers’ educational attainment in the formal and informal sectors.

A higher share of workers in the formal sector entered or completed secondary school education than workers in the informal sector Workers in the informal sector are also more likely to have no education or education below primary school level, suggesting that there is still room for improvement in human capital in the informal sector.

The share of employed in the informal sector differs across age groups, with it being relatively higher for young and senior workers.

According to the 2019 Zimbabwe LFS, more than threequarters of employment was in the informal sector.

The fraction of employment in the informal sector rose above 80 percent for the age groups 20–24 and 65+ (i.e., post-retirement age). The informal employment trajectory across the lifecycle was also seen in some Latin American and Caribbean countries (Perry et al., 2007).

Young workers have difficulty finding jobs in the formal sector, largely due to a lack of working experience. The probability of being employed in the informal sector was lowest among primeage workers. Senior workers were less likely to find employment in the formal sector.

Informality is also more common in rural areas than in urban areas. In 2019, about two out of three workers in the formal sector were residing in urban areas. In contrast, more than half of workers in the informal sector were in rural areas .

Given that access to markets, technology spillovers, and agglomeration effects are more limited in rural than in urban areas, workers in rural areas, where poverty is higher, joined the informal sector less for entrepreneurship and more out of necessity than workers in urban areas.

In 2021Q3, most of the employers lived in urban areas, while own-account workers and employees were more likely to live in rural areas.

About 80 percent of contributing family workers were in rural areas and these workers are more likely to be women and less financially independent (Zimbabwe 2019 LFCLS).