Paid informal work in deprived neighborhoods

In advanced economies, work beyond employment has been viewed very differen tly depending upon whether it is paid or not. Whilst unpaid work, especiall y voluntary work, has been perceived as something to be nurtured in order t o rebuild trust and reciprocity in communities, paid informal work has been viewed as exploitative work conducted under sweatshop conditions that need s to be eradicated. Using evidence from deprived urban neighborhoods in Bri tain, howe, er, this paper reveals that only a minor part of paid informal work involves exploited informal employees working in sweatshops. Instead, most paid informal work is conducted on a voluntary basis for kin, neighbor s and friends for social rather than economic reasons. In consequence, much paid informal work is conducted under social relations akin to the unpaid community exchange that many wish to nurture. The policy finding, however, is not merely that a more laissez-faire approach is required towards such w ork. Given that the poorest benefit least from such sources of informal sup port, this paper asserts that the challenge for policy is to identify vehic les for harnessing it amongst such groups, The paper thus concludes by outl ining one potential means - Active Citizens' Credits - by which this might be achieved. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.