Gender and age as factors influencing participation in the informal labour market of Owerri Metropolis, Nigeria

Emmanuella Onyenechere, Imo State University

This study addresses the influence that age and gender have on participation in the casual labour market. Data from the field survey on casual labourers, comprising of 200 male and female casual labourers were analyzed using Chi-square and Regression analysis. The analyses show that there is significant difference between informal employment Policy interventions to enhance age and gender among casual labourers, that there is significant difference in the working condition of male and female casual labourers and that there is significant difference in the level of precarity of jobs both male and female casual labourers are hired for. The paper concludes that Male and female casual labourers as partners should spearhead finding solutions to problems of gender segregation that keeps women in few subtypes of casual labour. This is vital information for informal employment policy formulation that will help to enhance informal employment labor market institutions, especially casual labour.