“I usually say that the popular economy – or this sector of the popular economies; we can even speak in the plural because it is very heterogeneous – is a sector of the popular economies. A distinctive lens to look at the problems and reality of the world of work and the labor market as a whole. “It allows us to take a better look at problems that also exist in other work sectors, although they appear in this sector with certain characteristics,” says Julieta Quirós, an anthropologist and CONSET researcher at the Anthropological Institute of Cordoba.
The phrase summarizes the meaning Technical Report No. 2 “You work a lot and earn little. Dynamics and problems of the popular economy in the province of Cordoba”which Quirós coordinated with a multidisciplinary team.
The study shows that 27.6% of the economically active population of Córdoba earn their living from the grassroots economy And these actions support Houses where 37% of the governorate’s population lives. It is no longer an “informal margin,” but has become a structural element in the labor market.
Those left out of paid employment
What are we talking about when we talk about popular economics? The report defines it as: “Popular self-employment in the 21st century”: Trade, small companies, services and productive projects Self-employed, family or associationwith the aim of ensuring income for subsistence, however Outside the wage labor system.
In Córdoba, this translates to hundreds of thousands of people working in low-scale production units, often in their homes or in borrowed space. The research – conducted through surveys and qualitative fieldwork – shows this In the past twenty years, this sector has not stopped growing It has been standardized as a career choice compared to private employment limits for labor absorption.
Redrado called for an immediate exchange plan: “Without deregulation there will be no investment or credit for growth.”
“When you look at empirical research, both current and long-term, what you see is that We have a unified sector in the labor market that is integrated outside the employment system. “We have to understand – and that’s why I say it’s a privileged lens – that the labor market has changed: it’s not the same market we knew 30 years ago,” Kyros emphasizes.
Orchestra workers.
Summarizes the scene the team reconstructed at Rio Cuarto Dynamics of many career paths In Popular Economy Quiros describes it as follows: A woman of about 40 years old living in that city finishes baking bread at dawn, and first thing in the morning she sells it at a popular fair, in the afternoon she serves the public in a hardware store when they call her, and at night she takes care of an elderly couple five days a week, and in parallel, she resells products through a catalog via WhatsApp. “He’s someone who does voodoo. We’re talking about him.” Orchestra workers“, sums up the anthropologist.
The expression is not just a metaphor: according to the report, 60% of those working in the popular economy are multi-businessThis means, Combining two or more professions. This pluralism is not the classic overtime between two paid jobs, but rather “Multiple Accounting” Which forces them to move between different branches, schedules and infrastructure.
The other main advantage is Overwork. 73% work, on average, 45% more hours than the standard 8-hour workdayAmong those who have more than one activity, overemployment is more prevalent. A large portion of those days takes place in private homes: 4 out of every 10 production units work at homewith people who produce, sell, manage networks, and do administration and logistics in the same place where they raise their children.
“You work a lot and earn little.”
If the first aspect of the popular economy is “A lot of work has been done”And the other side is “You gain a little”. The study shows that 51.6% of workers in this sector form families that do not cover the total basic basketThat is, they are in a state of income poverty. The rate of homelessness is higher than among other workers.
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Most of these projects Sells to nearby markets – Private clients in the neighborhood, galleries, and family networks – and sets prices “by eye” without being able to convert them to a price Hidden costs Work: Hours dedicated to social networking, assembly and disassembly of production space, transfers, and equipment breakdowns. In that equation, the calculation is usually negative.
Kyros sums it up in a phrase that challenges the entire labor market, not just the popular economy: “Today, in Argentina, one in three workers is poor; In popular economics, one of two. The incidence is higher. Working does not guarantee your way out of poverty. This is nothing new today or from below: these are structural problems that we have to look at“.
The anthropologist also warns that there are many paths They range from the grassroots economy to jobs with unstable salaries.: “In those ins and outs that we follow, we see the jobs that already exist for this population. What we notice is that, too often, they are very poor: low-paid, intermittent, unstable, with degrading conditions, with overtime requirements, without provision. If unwanted labor continues to emerge, there will be no fundamental solution.”
Beyond “plans versus action”
The Cordoba Report also intervenes in a recurring debate: the conflict between “Plans” and “Action”. “One of the contributions of these comprehensive investigations, which combine qualitative and quantitative studies, is that they allow us Show the antithetical nature of some logical myths“Kyros says.
One such myth is the idea that receiving social assistance is equivalent to “living off the state” and not working. “In these sectors, assistance programs work as follows: Work income supplement. There are recent studies showing that in families receiving social assistance, such assistance represents approx 3.5% of total family income. The rest comes from earned income. He asserts that the equivalence between “receiving social assistance” and “not working” is wrong.
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Based on this evidence, the researcher questions an important part of the list of available public policies: “Many policies that are designed in terms of… “Formalizing informal employment” or improving so-called “conditions of employment” Of people do not pay attention to the fact that these people work. They are not out of the labor market: they are working. What they need is not to learn how to write a CV; Better conditions to develop the jobs they already have and achieve better income“.
Specific problems revealed in the report include: Access to financing for equipment and vehicles, Lack of adequate work and storage spacesthe Overload of care tasks and Barriers to processing credits or programs Due to requirements that are difficult to meet or unfriendly digital platforms. Only a minority of workers in the popular economy declare a stable relationship with state policies or programmes.
A mirror of the rest of the labor market
Although the focus is on grassroots economies, Kiros’s reading goes further. combination of Diversity, redundancy, fixed salaries, and winding paths Self-employment and precarious jobs also intersect with formal employment, state employment with second jobs, freelancers and app workers who demand specific regulatory frameworks and contribution numbers.
“Aside from the government changes of the past 30 years, There is a reality that has been installed as a unifying feature of the Argentine world of work“Viewing popular economics as a lens does not mean reducing the problem to the poor, the anthropologist insists Place the expanding business model under the magnifying glass.
In a context where labor reforms, special taxes for digital workers, and platform regulations are being discussed, the Córdoba report leaves a fundamental warning: the key is not only “Create more jobs”but Any kind of work It is created and with what income. Because, as the picture of the popular economy shows, You work a lot and earn littleThere are more and more workers for whom work itself is no longer a passport out of poverty.
Second technical report
The Interdisciplinary Study of the Popular Economy in the Province of Córdoba has presented its second technical report, which is the result of the first empirical survey, with a qualitative and quantitative approach, on the popular economies of Córdoba. The research was coordinated by a team composed of Julieta Quirós (IDACOR, CONICET – UNC), Karina Tomatis (National University of Córdoba) and Claudia Kinpel (ISTE, CONICET – National University of Río Cuarto).
Key sector data
In the province of Cordoba, popular economic activities constitute a source of livelihood for one out of every four economically active people. This sector is mainly characterized by pluralism, overemployment, and frequent alternation between self-employment and unstable paid jobs.