One of the features of many third world economies is that a large percentage of the labor force is involved in what economists call the "informal" sector. These are individuals, frequently migrants to urban areas, that do not have formal jobs, but instead work on the streets carrying out various menial tasks, such as cleaning car windows, selling cigarettes or candy, or hawking newspapers. In countries without a welfare system and with tiny industrial sectors, these individuals survive - precariously - by juggling a variety of menial jobs or becoming involved in criminal activities.
Unfortunately, as the US has deindustrialized and formal sector employment has shrunk as a percentage of the total labor force (there are fewer jobs in the US in 2012 than twelve years ago) many people are turning to the informal sector. A writer with
Businessweek recently
wrote up his experience working in the informal sector in San Francisco, where online sites such as Taskrabbit helped him locate a variety of extremely low paid short term jobs.
Unless the US reindustrializes, tragically, this is the future that awaits many millions of formerly middle class Americans.
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