Seychelles - Daily Life - Market Vendors
Lucy Louise has been selling bananas, limes, mint, and pumpkin at Victoria Market in Port Victoria, Seychelles for over six years. She grows her own produce to bring to market on Saturdays, the busiest day of the week. Like many vendors, selling at the market is her only source of income.
Marketplaces are key sites for economic activity and while they may initially seem small-scale, they are not only central to the livelihoods of many households, they also make a significant contribution to individual countries’ gross domestic product.
From street vendors and domestic workers to subsistence farmers and seasonal agriculture workers, women make up a disproportionate percentage of workers in the informal sector. Working in this informal, or grey economy, as it’s sometimes called, leaves women often without any protection of labour laws, social benefits such as pension, health insurance or paid sick leave. The lack of social protections has long-term impact on women. For example, fewer women receive pensions globally, and as a result, more elderly women are now living in poverty. Even in developed economies, such as in France, Germany, Greece and Italy, women’s average pension is more than 30 per cent lower than men’s.
Read More: interactive.unwomen.org/multimedia/infographic/changingwo...
Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown