Speaker: Jemima Nyakongo, HNI Interim Coordinator
Home-based workers are workers who produce goods or provide services from in or around their homes. Globally, they constitute a vital segment of the informal economy. In 2019, the ILO estimated that there were 260 million home-based workers worldwide, representing 7.9% of the employed population.
Home-based workers make diverse and significant contributions to the local and global economy, as well as to their households. However, despite their contributions, they remain invisible and unrecognised by governments and employers.
There are two categories of home-based workers, but today I will focus on own account home-based workers. For example a basket weaver, These are workers who design, produce, and market and sell their products to local and global markets through digital platforms like specialized websites, instagram and whatsapp.
An example of a self-employed home-based worker is a basket weaver or garment maker who sells at local markets but who also sells through digital platforms.
Many home-based workers access specialized websites, Instagram and WhatsApp to sell their products. While these platforms provide avenues to sell their products, they also put them in vulnerable situations, where orders are cancelled, leading to financial loss and stock piling.
These digital platforms treat home-based workers as entrepreneurs or artisans and do not recognise them as workers, while in reality they are workers who are employed by these platforms. Platforms specialising in traditional garments and art pieces even provide large orders to home-based workers. Non recognition of them as workers provides a space for employers to get away from providing labour rights.
In addition, these platforms primarily create space for individual workers rather than for social and solidarity economy units. This leads to alienating workers and taking away the opportunity to collectivise and unionise.
Disparities in digital access further exacerbate their vulnerabilities. Many self-employed home-based workers lack the digital literacy or devices necessary to engage effectively with online platforms, often relying on middlemen or family members to navigate digital spaces. This dependency creates additional layers of subcontracting and dependence.
As HomeNet International, we represent over 1.3 million home-based workers and we demand that all workers in the platform economy, including own account home-based workers, be recognized as workers and protected by law. They must have access to affordable digital training and the right to organize for collective bargaining.