Informal Employment Under the Skin: Informality and Health Inequalities Among Chilean Workers

Abstract

Informal employment has been identified as an important social determinant of health. This article addresses the processes through which informal employment affects workers’ health in Chile. The study's methodological approach was based on qualitative interviews with 34 formal and informal workers. The findings show how workers perceive informal employment as negatively affecting their mental and physical health through different dimensions of their living and working conditions. Incorporating a gender perspective proves to be integral to the analysis of these processes. The article concludes by discussing how neoliberalism underlies such vulnerability processes and negatively impacts on the population's health.