ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE

To describe the origin, evolution, and application of the concept of employment vulnerability in workers who subsist on street sales.

METHODS

We have carried out an analysis of the literature in database in Spanish, Portuguese, and English, without restriction by country. This is a review of the gray literature of government reports, articles, and documents from Latin America and the Caribbean. We have analyzed information on the informal economy, social-employment vulnerability, and subsistence workers.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

The concept of informal economy is dispersed and suggested as synonymous with employment vulnerability. As a polysemic term, it generates confusion and difficulty in identifying defined profiles of employment vulnerability in informal subsistence workers, who sell their products on the streets and sidewalks of cities. The lack of a clear concept and profile of employment vulnerability for this type of workers generates a restriction on defined actions to reduce employment vulnerability. The profiles could facilitate access to the acquisition of assets that support their structure of opportunities, facilitating and mediating in the passage from vulnerability to social mobility with opportunities. We propose as a concept of employment vulnerability for subsistence workers in the informal sector, the condition of those who must work by day to eat at night, who have little or no ownership of assets, and who have a minimum structure of opportunities to prevent, face, and resist the critical situations that occur daily, putting at risk their subsistence and that of the persons who are their responsibility, thus making the connection between social and employment vulnerability.

Work; Unemployment; Working Conditions; Workplace; Occupational Health Social Vulnerability

INTRODUCTION

Informal economy and informal employment characterizes the predominant economic model⁵²52. Palacios R. ¿Qué significa “trabajador informal”? Revisiones desde una investigación etnográfica. Rev Mex Sociol. 2011 [cited 2017 Mar 28];73(40:591-616. Available from: http://www.scielo.org.mx/pdf/rms/v73n4/v73n4a2.pdf
http://www.scielo.org.mx/pdf/rms/v73n4/v... . According to the 2013 Labour Overview of the International Labour Organization (ILO)⁴²42. Organización Internacional del Trabajo. Oficina Regional para América Latina y el Caribe. Panorama laboral 2013 - América Latina y el Caribe: 20 años panorama laboral. Lima; 2013 [cited 2014 Sep 4]. Available from: http://www.ilo.org/americas/publicaciones/panoramalaboral/WCMS_232760/lang--es/index.htm
http://www.ilo.org/americas/publicacione... , in Latin America the employed population in this sector of the economy is approximately 50%, which also mentions that in recent years the focus is on women and young persons.

Within the population of workers employed in the informal sector we can mention those who have informal jobs, which in turn have been classified and reclassified by the ILO since 1993³⁴34. Oficina Internaconal del Trabajo. Guía sobre los nuevos indicadores de empleo de los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio: incluido el conjunto completo de Indicadores de Trabajo Decente. Empleo vulnerable. Ginebra: OIT; 2009 [cited 2015 Apr 1]. Available from: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/documents/publication/wcms_110513.pdf
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/... ^,3535. Oficina Internacional del Trabajo. Medición de la economía informal. Ginebra: OIT; 2011 [cited 2015 Apr 1]. Available from: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/---emp_policy/documents/publication/wcms_229450.pdf
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/... ^,4141. Organización Internacional del Trabajo. Decimoséptima Conferencia Internacional de Estadísticos del Trabajo: resolución sobre la labor futura relativa a la Clasificación Internacional Uniforme de Ocupaciones. Ginebra: OIT; 2003 [cited 2015 Mar 29]. Available from: http://ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---stat/documents/normativeinstrument/wcms_087558.pdf
http://ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---d... ^,4343. Organización Internacional del Trabajo. Resolución sobre la actualización de la Clasificación Internacional Uniforme de Ocupaciones: estructura de la CIUO-08. [cited 2015 Oct 3]. Available from: http://www.ilo.org/public/spanish/bureau/stat/isco/docs/resol08.pdf
http://www.ilo.org/public/spanish/bureau... ^,4444. Organización Internacional del Trabajo. Resolución sobre la Clasificación Internacional de la Situación en el Empleo (CISE), adoptada por la Decimoquinta Conferencia Internacional de Estadísticos del Trabajo. Ginebra; 1993 [cited 2015 Mar 20]. Available from: http://ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---stat/documents/normativeinstrument/wcms_087564.pdf
http://ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---d... , without obtaining until the moment a consensus that allows clear comparisons between countries and the specific definition of how the groups of workers who exercise their profession making streets and sidewalks their place of work should be considered. They are referred to indiscriminately in information from official research studies and reports as workers of the informal sector, workers with informal jobs, with precarious jobs, with subsistence jobs, poor workers, and, more recently, as vulnerable working population, without yet having the necessary visibility for an adequate support. The considerations above make it difficult to define the concept of employment vulnerability as a major component of social vulnerability, as it relates to the assets and opportunities that could enable workers to anticipate, face, and resist situations that could affect them personally and their family.

The above situation reflects the need to define a concept of employment vulnerability that facilitates the methodological advance to identify conditions and characteristics of employment vulnerability in workers with subsistence jobs, especially sellers of products in the streets and sidewalks of cities. Generally using a concept that involves such a wide range of particularities makes it difficult to make decisions for the prioritization of actions at different decision levels.

All the above conditions and characteristics are part of a decent work, as postulated by the ILO³⁴34. Oficina Internaconal del Trabajo. Guía sobre los nuevos indicadores de empleo de los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio: incluido el conjunto completo de Indicadores de Trabajo Decente. Empleo vulnerable. Ginebra: OIT; 2009 [cited 2015 Apr 1]. Available from: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/documents/publication/wcms_110513.pdf
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/... ^,3737. Oficína Internacional del Trabajo. 90ª Sesión de la Conferencia Internacional del Trabajo: trabajo decente y economía Informal: 6. Ginebra; OIT; 2002 [cited 2015 Oct 3]. Available from: http://www.ilo.org/public/spanish/standards/relm/ilc/ilc90/pdf/rep-vi.pdf
http://www.ilo.org/public/spanish/standa... ^,4040. Oficína Internacional del Trabajo. Trabajo decente en las Américas: una agenda hemisférica, 2006-2015: informe del director general. Ginebra: OIT; 2006 [cited 2015 Oct 3]. Available from: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---webdev/documents/publication/wcms_081003.pdf
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/... , and they make it more unattainable because if the concept is not specified, its measurement and application in the field will hardly materialize, leaving in a complex scenario the actions that may be well-intentioned, but which are scarcely directed to address employment vulnerability.

It should be understood that this term was driven by the exhaustion of the concept of poverty and by the search for new ways of analyzing and dimensioning a problem with impacts on public health, which implies both the description of the working poor and the identification of their ability or inability to foresee, face, and withstand potentially harmful or dangerous situations.

For the reasons explained above, this review aims to describe the origin, evolution, and application of the concept of employment vulnerability in informal workers with subsistence jobs from street sales.

METHODS

We carried out a bibliometric study of critical narrative review in four databases, with review of articles, gray literature, government reports, and international agencies for Latin America and the Caribbean. The search procedure focused on the exploration of studies, articles, academic documents, and reports from governmental and non-governmental agencies (such as the World Health Organization/Pan American Health Organization (WHO/PAHO), ILO, United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Center (CELADE), Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), among others), directly on their official pages, which referred to the context of informal economy, its references, uses, and applications in general, connection of the informal economy with employment vulnerability, and its characteristics and relations. Information on social vulnerability was sought as a broad context that includes employment vulnerability, focus, and practical applications in the ministerial pages and in the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE Colombia). Information that was not searched in the database was retrieved as gray literature using Google Scholar.

We consulted the scientific databases PubMed, SciELO (Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia), Bireme, and LILACS for topics related to informal employment, subsistence jobs, and their relation with social and employment vulnerability, besides including general labor and social information for the informal sector.

The keywords selected by prior knowledge of the topics and for convenience for the topic of interest were: «vulnerabilidade laboral», «vulnerabilidade social», «trabalho informal», «empregos de subsistência», «vulnerabilidade socioeconômica», and «ambulantes de rua». Initially, the terms were searched and, once all records were captured, the Boolean terms AND and OR were used to refine the search for all indexes with «economia informal», «empregos precários», «laboral», «street workers», and «social». The Table presents the search criteria and the Figure presents the criteria for withdrawing the documents. Articles were searched in Spanish, Portuguese, and English, without restriction by year. The search for government reports and international agencies was made for Latin America and the Caribbean.

With the bibliographic review classified within the gray literature, 169 documents, official reports, articles, among others were identified and 51 of them met the selection criteria (Table).

In the scientific databases, 2,043 articles were retrieved and after refining the specific thematic approach with the removal of duplicate articles, and taking into account the criteria described previously, 37 articles were selected. In all of them, a review of all abstracts and introduction was carried out to verify if they contained elements that would guide the topic of employment vulnerability related to subsistence work.

Finally, the review and specific analysis of subsistence work, as the last category of interest, was performed with 28 of the 37 selected articles (Figure).

One of the researchers carried out a review of abstracts and other researchers carried out a second review to verify the classification of articles according to their relevance in the approach to the topic. We also verified the pertinence of the gray literature documents that were circumscribed to the countries of Latin America, and the actuality of the documents and articles, considering the changes in the different ways of valuing informality and employment vulnerability. We also took into account that the scientific articles included the previously defined search terms. The central topic was subdivided into three subtopics: (i) informal economy, context, and characteristics, (ii) socio-employment vulnerability, and (iii) subsistence workers.

RESULTS

The type of work and the economic model are elements that condition the poorest populations, and subsistence jobs contribute to the configuration of poverty⁸8. Benach J, Amable M. Las clases sociales y la pobreza. Gac Sanit. 2004 [cited 2008 Jun 6];8(4):16-23. Available from: http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0213-91112004000400005
http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?scrip... . The population growth and the economic model facilitated the individualization of responsibilities¹⁰10. Cardona Osorio J. El concepto de salud enfermedad y salud pública según los diferentes modos de producción. Rev Centroam Adm Publica. 1988 [cited 2017 Mar 28];(12):103- 36. Available from: http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/icap/unpan041736.pdf
http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/pub... ^,2424. Itikawa L. Vulnerabilidades do trabalho informal de rua. Sao Paulo Perspect. 2006 [cited 2015 Aug 30];20(1):136-47. Available from: http:// http://produtos.seade.gov.br/produtos/spp/v20n01/v20n01_10.pdf
http://produtos.seade.gov.br/produtos/sp... which were previously of the companies or Government, a change that led to a growth of 3.9% per year of the informal economy between 1990 and 1998, while the formal sector growth was 2.1% in the region³³33. Oficina Internacionald del Trabajo. América Latina y el Caribe: panorama laboral 1999 [cited 2017 Mar 29]. Ginebra: OIT; 1999. (Informa, 6). Available from: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---americas/---ro-lima/documents/publication/wcms_187604.pdf
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/... of Latin America; moreover, negative effects affected the health of vulnerable populations because of the decrease in social spending in many countries⁴⁵45. Organización Mundial de la Salud. Acción sobre los factores determinantes de la salud. Documento preparado por la comisión. 2005, Organización Mundial de la Salud: Washinton..

According to official reports and scientific evidence registered in Latin America and Europe^{8,22,27–29,46,47,62}, the health of the poor and vulnerable populations in the world could be improved by taking into account that the social conditions in which persons live and work contribute to their disease and health conditions⁴⁷47. Organización Mundial de la Salud. Comisión sobre Determianantes Sociales de la Salud. Subsanar las desigualdades en una generación: alcanzar la equidad sanitaria actuando sobre los Determiantes Sociales de la Salud: resumen analítico del informe final. Ginebra; 2008 [cited 2015 Feb 21]. Available from: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2008/WHO_IER_CSDH_08.1_spa.pdf
http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2008/WHO_IER... .

The ILO in 2013⁴²42. Organización Internacional del Trabajo. Oficina Regional para América Latina y el Caribe. Panorama laboral 2013 - América Latina y el Caribe: 20 años panorama laboral. Lima; 2013 [cited 2014 Sep 4]. Available from: http://www.ilo.org/americas/publicaciones/panoramalaboral/WCMS_232760/lang--es/index.htm
http://www.ilo.org/americas/publicacione... mentioned that three in every 10 Latin American and Caribbean workers do not have access to any type of social protection coverage, and young adults represent approximately 50% of the unemployed persons in urban areas. Women continue to be affected by unemployment and the rate of informality (47.7%) persists for non-agricultural workers, a situation which is recorded in the ILO 2011 report on world employment trends³⁹39. Oficina Internaconal del Trabajo. Tendencias mundiales del empleo 2011: el desafio de la recuperación del empleo. Ginebra: OIT; 2011] [cited 2015 Apr 1]. Available from: http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/icap/unpan047645.pdf
http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/pub... . The ILO³⁶36. Oficina Internacional del Trabajo. 87ª Reunión de la Conferencia Internacional del Trabajo; jun 1999; Ginebra, Suiza. Memoria del Director General: trabajo decente. [cited 2015 Mar 14]. Available from: http://www.ilo.org/public/spanish/standards/relm/ilc/ilc87/rep-i.htm
http://www.ilo.org/public/spanish/standa... ^,3838. Oficina Internacional del Trabajo. Tendencias mundiales del empleo: prevenir una crisis mayor del empleo. Ginebra: OIT; 2012 [cited 2015 Mar 23]. Available from: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/wcms_168095.pdf
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/... and the Ministry of Health of Colombia¹³13. Cutter SL. Vulnerability to environmental hazards. Prog Hum Geogr. 1996 [cited 2015 Mar 13];20(4):529-39. Available from: http://webra.cas.sc.edu/hvri/docs/Progress_Human_Geography.pdf
http://webra.cas.sc.edu/hvri/docs/Progre... ^,aaMinisterio de Salud y Protección Social (COL). Plan Decenal de Salud Pública, PDSP, 2012–2021. Bogotá (DC); 2013 [cited 2014 Aug 26]. Available from: https://www.minsalud.gov.co/sites/rid/Lists/BibliotecaDigital/RIDE/VS/ED/PSP/PDSP.pdf mention that vulnerable working populations are considered as those that have a subsistence work and with precarious employment because of their low education level, lack of economic resources, and fragile ties with social security systems⁴²42. Organización Internacional del Trabajo. Oficina Regional para América Latina y el Caribe. Panorama laboral 2013 - América Latina y el Caribe: 20 años panorama laboral. Lima; 2013 [cited 2014 Sep 4]. Available from: http://www.ilo.org/americas/publicaciones/panoramalaboral/WCMS_232760/lang--es/index.htm
http://www.ilo.org/americas/publicacione... . These populations are also at social, occupational, and community risk, hindering the implementation of some of the actions indicated by the Regional Decent Work Plan²⁶26. Lenis Ballesteros V, López Arango YL, Cuadros Urrego YM. Condiciones de salud y de trabajo informal en recuperadores ambientales del área rural de Medellín, Colombia, 2008. Rev Saude Publica. 2012;46(5):866-74. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0034-89102012000500014
https://doi.org/10.1590/S0034-8910201200... ^,4848. Organización Panamericana de la Salud. Plan Regional en Salud de los Trabajadores. Washington (DC); 2001 [cited 2015 Jan 29]. Available from: http://www.who.int/occupational_health/regions/en/oehamplanreg.pdf
http://www.who.int/occupational_health/r... ^,aaMinisterio de Salud y Protección Social (COL). Plan Decenal de Salud Pública, PDSP, 2012–2021. Bogotá (DC); 2013 [cited 2014 Aug 26]. Available from: https://www.minsalud.gov.co/sites/rid/Lists/BibliotecaDigital/RIDE/VS/ED/PSP/PDSP.pdf ^,bbOrganización Internacional del Trabajo. Informe anual sobre los derechos de los trabajadores. Trabajar en el sector informal: una oportunidad, un riesgo, un reto: dossier realizado para la Comisión Mundial del Trabajo por la agencia InfoSud-Belgique. Capítulo 3: condiciones de trabajo contrarias a las normas. June 2002., especially when the meaning of informal worker is difficult to define and direct⁵⁶56. Salas MM, Oliveira O. Jóvenes mexicanos em medio de la crisis económica: los problemas de la integración laboral. Soc Estado. 2011;26(2):373-421. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0102-69922011000200017
https://doi.org/10.1590/S0102-6992201100... .

An indicator of poor workers is that of “vulnerable employment”³⁴34. Oficina Internaconal del Trabajo. Guía sobre los nuevos indicadores de empleo de los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio: incluido el conjunto completo de Indicadores de Trabajo Decente. Empleo vulnerable. Ginebra: OIT; 2009 [cited 2015 Apr 1]. Available from: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/documents/publication/wcms_110513.pdf
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/... , which consists of self-employed and unpaid family workers. They, because of their vulnerability, often have informal work agreements. Employment vulnerability is also often characterized by low wages and poor working conditions, which may undermine the fundamental rights of workers²⁶26. Lenis Ballesteros V, López Arango YL, Cuadros Urrego YM. Condiciones de salud y de trabajo informal en recuperadores ambientales del área rural de Medellín, Colombia, 2008. Rev Saude Publica. 2012;46(5):866-74. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0034-89102012000500014
https://doi.org/10.1590/S0034-8910201200... . According to ILO in 2002, the employment rights acquired for workers in the informal sector of the economy are infringed.

In Colombia, the 2012-2021 Decennial Public Health Plan (PDSP)^aaMinisterio de Salud y Protección Social (COL). Plan Decenal de Salud Pública, PDSP, 2012–2021. Bogotá (DC); 2013 [cited 2014 Aug 26]. Available from: https://www.minsalud.gov.co/sites/rid/Lists/BibliotecaDigital/RIDE/VS/ED/PSP/PDSP.pdf includes the vulnerable working population, but it has poorly defined guidelines for “street vendors” with informal employment, who constitute an alternative for those who cannot work in the formal sector and have low education level^ccLópez H. Indicadores de precariedad del empleo urbano [conferencia]. In: Primer seminario Colombia Informal; 2006; Alcaldía-de-Medellín, Colombia..

To measure vulnerability, the National Planning Department (DNP) in Colombia^ddDepartamento Nacional de Planeación (COL), Dirección de Desarrollo Social, Grupo de Calidad de Vida. Mecanismos de focalización: cuatro estudios de caso. Bogotá (DC); 2007 [cited 2015 Apr 1]. Available from: https://colaboracion.dnp.gov.co/CDT/Desarrollo%20Social/mecanismos_focalizacion_1.pdf has an indirect indicator and mechanisms of focus for social spending, in the population that includes workers with needs of employment subsidy. Social health care is designed for a category of persons in poverty and vulnerability, which can be reduced or mitigated with risk management strategies^ddDepartamento Nacional de Planeación (COL), Dirección de Desarrollo Social, Grupo de Calidad de Vida. Mecanismos de focalización: cuatro estudios de caso. Bogotá (DC); 2007 [cited 2015 Apr 1]. Available from: https://colaboracion.dnp.gov.co/CDT/Desarrollo%20Social/mecanismos_focalizacion_1.pdf .

On the other hand, vulnerability can be seen as a process of conditions that are accumulated and vary in time and space and as a function of the subsistence mechanisms of individuals and households and the investments they can make in the medium and long term in the reproduction of their social system¹⁵15. Filgueira CH, Peri A. América Latina: los rostros de la pobreza y sus causa determinantes núm. Santiago de Chile: Nações Unidas, CEPAL; 2004 [cited 2015 Mar 14]. (CEPAL Series - Población y Desarrollo, 54). Available from: http://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/7192/S045458_es.pdf?sequence=1
http://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/h... . For the World Bank^eeBusso G. Vulnerabilidad social: nociones e implicancias de políticas para Latinoamérica a inicios del siglo XXI. In: Seminario Internacional: las diferentes expresiones de la vulnerabilidad social en América Latina y el Caribe; 20 a 21 jun 2001; Santiago de Chile. Santiago de Chile: CEPAL, CELADE; 2001 [cited 2015 Mar 13]. Available from: http://www.cepal.org/publicaciones/xml/3/8283/GBusso.pdf , those who receive low earnings because they are employed in the informal sector of the economy are also prone to suffer from preventable diseases and face a high risk of social exclusion.

The concept of informal economy, from the institutionalist perspective²³23. Iriart C, Waitzkin H, Breilh J, Estrada A, Merhy EE. Medicina social latinoamericana: aportes y desafíos. Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2002;12(2):128 -36. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1020-49892002000800013
https://doi.org/10.1590/S1020-4989200200... ^,ffRamírez Guerrero J. Capacitación laboral para el sector informal en Colombia: informe presentado a la Oficina Internacional del Trabajo: documento de trabajo. Ginebra: OIT; 2002 [cited 2017 Mar 29]. Available from: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/---ifp_skills/documents/publication/wcms_103989.pdf ^,ggMinisterio del Trabajo (COL); Organización Iberoamericana de Seguridad Social (OISS). II Encuesta Nacional de Condiciones de Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo en el Sistema General de Riesgos Laborales de Colombia. Bogotá (DC); 2013 [cited 2014 Sep 2]. Available from: http://ccs.org.co/salaprensa/images/Documentos/INFORME_EJECUTIVO_II%20ENCSST.pdf favors the individualization of responsibilities, and the worker is responsible for his or her protection against the risk factors of accidents or diseases^hhDepartamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística (COL). Medición del empleo informal y seguridad social: trimestre móvil febrero - abril de 2013: resúmen ejecutivo. Bogotá (DC); 2013 [cited 2015 Aug 30]. Available from: http://www.dane.gov.co/files/investigaciones/boletines/ech/ech_informalidad/re_ech_informalidad_feb_abr2013.pdf . The Ministry of Social Security has a role to monitor and configure the current situation in occupational health for the informal sector of the economy³⁰30. Ministerio de la Protección Social (COL). Diagnóstico nacional de condiciones de salud y trabajo de las personas ocupadas en el sectror informal de la economía de 20 departamentos de Colombia y propuesta de monitoreo de éstas condiciones. Medellín; 2008., in which conditions of precariousness and employment vulnerability can be observed, which could be modified if profiles of vulnerability were identified in the workers.

The employment statistics of the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) operatively define urban informal employment, including self-employed workers, other than independent professionals and technicians^ffRamírez Guerrero J. Capacitación laboral para el sector informal en Colombia: informe presentado a la Oficina Internacional del Trabajo: documento de trabajo. Ginebra: OIT; 2002 [cited 2017 Mar 29]. Available from: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/---ifp_skills/documents/publication/wcms_103989.pdf ^,ddDepartamento Nacional de Planeación (COL), Dirección de Desarrollo Social, Grupo de Calidad de Vida. Mecanismos de focalización: cuatro estudios de caso. Bogotá (DC); 2007 [cited 2015 Apr 1]. Available from: https://colaboracion.dnp.gov.co/CDT/Desarrollo%20Social/mecanismos_focalizacion_1.pdf (Box 1).

The concept of vulnerability was used for the analysis of environmental risks and hazards⁹9. Campos-Vargas M, Toscana-Aparicio A, Campos Alanís J. 2015. Riesgo socionaturales: vulnerabilidad socioeconómica, justicia ambiental y justicia espacial. Cuad Geogr Rev Colomb Geogr. 2015;24 (2):53-69. https://doi.org/10.15446/rcdg.v24n2.50207
https://doi.org/10.15446/rcdg.v24n2.5020... ^,1515. Filgueira CH, Peri A. América Latina: los rostros de la pobreza y sus causa determinantes núm. Santiago de Chile: Nações Unidas, CEPAL; 2004 [cited 2015 Mar 14]. (CEPAL Series - Población y Desarrollo, 54). Available from: http://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/7192/S045458_es.pdf?sequence=1
http://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/h... ^,iiCliment IA. Tercer mundo, desarrollo, desastres y tecnología: una mirada desde la geografía. Serie Geogr . 2002 [cited 2015 Mar 13];(10):11-26. Disponible en: http://dspace.uah.es/dspace/bitstream/handle/10017/1157/OK-01-Revista-Articulo-Ignacio%2520Alonso%2520-11%2520a%252026%5b1%5d.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y , as well as for demographic^eeBusso G. Vulnerabilidad social: nociones e implicancias de políticas para Latinoamérica a inicios del siglo XXI. In: Seminario Internacional: las diferentes expresiones de la vulnerabilidad social en América Latina y el Caribe; 20 a 21 jun 2001; Santiago de Chile. Santiago de Chile: CEPAL, CELADE; 2001 [cited 2015 Mar 13]. Available from: http://www.cepal.org/publicaciones/xml/3/8283/GBusso.pdf ^,jjRodríguezoli Vignol J. Vulnerabilidad demográfica: una faceta de las desventajas sociales. Santiago de Chile; CEPAL, ECLAC; 2000 [cited 2015 Mar 14]. (CEPAL- Población y Desarrollo, 5). Available from: http://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/7185/S2000937_es.pdf?sequence=1 and economic conditions^kkPizarro R. La vulnerabilidad social y sus desafíos: una mirada desde América Latina. Santiago de Chile: CEPAL, ECLAC; 2001 [cited 2015 Mar 1]. (CEPAL- Estudios Estadísticos y Prospectivos, 6). Available from: http://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/4762/S0102116_es.pdf?sequence=1 . In addition, it was resumed and adjusted to be incorporated into the social analyses, deriving the concept of social vulnerability as the inability to foresee, face, and resist a harmful situation^llKaztman R, Filgueira CH. Marco conceptual sobre activos, vulnerabilidad y estructura de oportunidades. Montevideo: CEPAL, Oficina de Montevideo; 1999 [cited 2015 Mar 14]. Available from: http://www.cepal.org/publicaciones/xml/6/10816/LC-R176.pdf ^,mmKaztman R. Notas sobre la medición de la vulnerabilidad social. Montevideo: Universidad Católica de Uruguay, Programa IPES; 2000 [cited 2015 Mar 14]. (Serie Documentos de Trabajo del IPES – Colección Aportes Conceptuales, 2). p.76-301. Available from: http://ucu.edu.uy/sites/default/files/facultad/dcsp/vulnerabilidad_social.pdf , which is a concept for the analysis of poverty in a more integral way. Some authorsⁿnFilgueira CH. Estructura de oportunidades y vulnerabilidad social, aproximaciones conceptuales recientes. Santiago de Chile: CEPAL, CELADE; 2001 [cited 2015 Mar 14]. Available from: http://www.cepal.org/publicaciones/xml/3/8283/cfilgueira.pdf ^,ooKaztman R, Coordinador. Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo PNUD - Uruguay. Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe CEPAL - Oficina de Montevideo. Activos y estructuras de oportunidades - estudios sobre las raíces de la vulnerabilidad social en Uruguay. Montevideo: PNUD, CEPAL; 1999 [cited 2015 Mar 14]. Available from: http://www.cepal.org/publicaciones/xml/2/10772/caratula.pdf mention that this concept will identify the shortcomings and propose to focus attention on the assets that can facilitate the responsiveness of communities, families, and persons to adverse situations, potentiating changes from what they have, rather than from what they need³¹31. Moser CON. The asset vulnerability framework: reassessing urban poverty reduction strategies. World Dev. 1998;26(1):1-19. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-750X(97)10015-8
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-750X(97)10... ^,kkPizarro R. La vulnerabilidad social y sus desafíos: una mirada desde América Latina. Santiago de Chile: CEPAL, ECLAC; 2001 [cited 2015 Mar 1]. (CEPAL- Estudios Estadísticos y Prospectivos, 6). Available from: http://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/4762/S0102116_es.pdf?sequence=1 ^,mmKaztman R. Notas sobre la medición de la vulnerabilidad social. Montevideo: Universidad Católica de Uruguay, Programa IPES; 2000 [cited 2015 Mar 14]. (Serie Documentos de Trabajo del IPES – Colección Aportes Conceptuales, 2). p.76-301. Available from: http://ucu.edu.uy/sites/default/files/facultad/dcsp/vulnerabilidad_social.pdf ^,ooKaztman R, Coordinador. Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo PNUD - Uruguay. Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe CEPAL - Oficina de Montevideo. Activos y estructuras de oportunidades - estudios sobre las raíces de la vulnerabilidad social en Uruguay. Montevideo: PNUD, CEPAL; 1999 [cited 2015 Mar 14]. Available from: http://www.cepal.org/publicaciones/xml/2/10772/caratula.pdf ^,ppPrograma de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD). Informe sobre Desarrollo Humano 2014: sostener el progreso humano: reducir vulnerabilidades y construir resiliencia: resumen. New York; 2014 [cited 2015 Aug 29]. Available from: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr14-summary-es.pdf .

The assets for the analysis of social vulnerability are physical (financial and physical, as in the case of housing), human (work, health, and education), and social (social networks) capitals. These, on the other hand, are generated especially by the Government, market, and community^mmKaztman R. Notas sobre la medición de la vulnerabilidad social. Montevideo: Universidad Católica de Uruguay, Programa IPES; 2000 [cited 2015 Mar 14]. (Serie Documentos de Trabajo del IPES – Colección Aportes Conceptuales, 2). p.76-301. Available from: http://ucu.edu.uy/sites/default/files/facultad/dcsp/vulnerabilidad_social.pdf – which is one of its forms of materialization –, and they can potentiate the assets or exacerbate situations of poverty, shortages, and danger.

The study of social vulnerability for different countries of the American continent mentions that work is of great importance in achieving social balance. This may have been one of the reasons why the ILO, at the end of the 1990s, requested the analysis of the social vulnerability of Uruguay, including employmentⁿnFilgueira CH. Estructura de oportunidades y vulnerabilidad social, aproximaciones conceptuales recientes. Santiago de Chile: CEPAL, CELADE; 2001 [cited 2015 Mar 14]. Available from: http://www.cepal.org/publicaciones/xml/3/8283/cfilgueira.pdf , perhaps in search of other tools and arguments to address the growing and irresistible labor informality in the continent. This process gives way to the emergence of a model to measure social vulnerability, which, in addition to valuing deficiencies, aims to identify the assets of the poor, as well as their structure of opportunities to foresee, face, and resist situations of threat or danger; this model is designated as the Model of Assets, Vulnerability, and Structure of Opportunities (AVEO)²⁵25. Kaztman R, Filgueira C. Las normas como bien público y como bien privado: reflexiones en las fronteras del enfóque AVEO. Rev CIS. 2007 [cited 2015 Mar 14];6(8):40-57. Available from http://www.techo.org/paises/chile/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/CIS8-3-Katzman.pdf
http://www.techo.org/paises/chile/wp-con... .

Employment vulnerability is included in social vulnerability, thus making the connection with informal economy; this is reflected in the report and analysis of the ILO⁴⁰40. Oficína Internacional del Trabajo. Trabajo decente en las Américas: una agenda hemisférica, 2006-2015: informe del director general. Ginebra: OIT; 2006 [cited 2015 Oct 3]. Available from: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---webdev/documents/publication/wcms_081003.pdf
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/... ^,4848. Organización Panamericana de la Salud. Plan Regional en Salud de los Trabajadores. Washington (DC); 2001 [cited 2015 Jan 29]. Available from: http://www.who.int/occupational_health/regions/en/oehamplanreg.pdf
http://www.who.int/occupational_health/r... ^,5252. Palacios R. ¿Qué significa “trabajador informal”? Revisiones desde una investigación etnográfica. Rev Mex Sociol. 2011 [cited 2017 Mar 28];73(40:591-616. Available from: http://www.scielo.org.mx/pdf/rms/v73n4/v73n4a2.pdf
http://www.scielo.org.mx/pdf/rms/v73n4/v... , international agencies⁴⁹49. Organización Panamericana de la Salud. 124ª Sesión del Comité Ejecutivo. Salud de los trabajadores en la región de las Américas. Plan Regional de Salud de los Trabajadores; 21-25 jun 1999; Washington (DC). [cited 2015 Sep 27]. Available from: http://www.paho.org/spanish/gov/ce/ce124_6.pdf
http://www.paho.org/spanish/gov/ce/ce124... ^,ppPrograma de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD). Informe sobre Desarrollo Humano 2014: sostener el progreso humano: reducir vulnerabilidades y construir resiliencia: resumen. New York; 2014 [cited 2015 Aug 29]. Available from: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr14-summary-es.pdf , health and labor authorities³⁰30. Ministerio de la Protección Social (COL). Diagnóstico nacional de condiciones de salud y trabajo de las personas ocupadas en el sectror informal de la economía de 20 departamentos de Colombia y propuesta de monitoreo de éstas condiciones. Medellín; 2008.^,aaMinisterio de Salud y Protección Social (COL). Plan Decenal de Salud Pública, PDSP, 2012–2021. Bogotá (DC); 2013 [cited 2014 Aug 26]. Available from: https://www.minsalud.gov.co/sites/rid/Lists/BibliotecaDigital/RIDE/VS/ED/PSP/PDSP.pdf , and in the studies carried out for the population with informal jobs in Colombia⁵¹51. Palacios-Pérez AT, Sierra-Torres CH. Prevalencia y factores de riesgo asociados a alteraciones comunicativas en vendedores ambulantes de Popayán, Colombia. Rev Salud Publica. 2014;16(4):572-84. https://doi.org/10.15446/rsap.v16n4.38086
https://doi.org/10.15446/rsap.v16n4.3808... , Brazil¹⁷17. Garzón Duque MO, Gómez Arias RD, Rodríguez Ospina FL. Indicadores y condiciones de salud en un grupo de trabajadores informales ‘venteros’ del centro de Medellín (Colombia) 2008–2009. Invest Andina. 2014 [cited 2015 Oct 4];16(28):932-48. Available from: http://www.scielo.org.co/pdf/inan/v16n28/v16n28a07.pdf
http://www.scielo.org.co/pdf/inan/v16n28... ^,2424. Itikawa L. Vulnerabilidades do trabalho informal de rua. Sao Paulo Perspect. 2006 [cited 2015 Aug 30];20(1):136-47. Available from: http:// http://produtos.seade.gov.br/produtos/spp/v20n01/v20n01_10.pdf
http://produtos.seade.gov.br/produtos/sp... ^,5353. Pamplona JB., Mercado de trabalho, informalidade e comércio ambulante em São Paulo. Rev Bras Estud Popul. 2013;30(1):225-49. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0102-30982013000100011
https://doi.org/10.1590/S0102-3098201300... , Mexico²¹21. González L, Ortecho M, Molinatti F. Desde la vulnerabilidad a la movilidad social, con una mirada decolonial. Estud Cent Estud Av Univ Nac Cordoba. 2013 [cited 2017 Mar 28];(30):177-96. Available from: http://www.scielo.org.ar/pdf/ecea/n30/n30a11.pdf
http://www.scielo.org.ar/pdf/ecea/n30/n3... , Chile⁷7. Barattini M. El trabajo precario en la era de la globalización. ¿Es posible la organización? Polis (Santiago). 2009;8(24):17-37. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-65682009000300002
https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-6568200900... , and Argentina¹³13. Cutter SL. Vulnerability to environmental hazards. Prog Hum Geogr. 1996 [cited 2015 Mar 13];20(4):529-39. Available from: http://webra.cas.sc.edu/hvri/docs/Progress_Human_Geography.pdf
http://webra.cas.sc.edu/hvri/docs/Progre... ^,1818. Giatti L, Barreto SM, César CC. Informal work, unemployment and health in Brazilian metropolitan areas, 1998 and 2003. Cad Saude Publica. 2008;24(10):2396-406. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0102-311X2008001000020
https://doi.org/10.1590/S0102-311X200800... ^,5959. Tasso A, Zurita C. Aves de paso: los trabajadores estacionales de Santiago del Estero. Trab Soc. 2013 [cited 2015 Sep 27]. Available from: http://www.scielo.org.ar/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1514-68712013000200004
http://www.scielo.org.ar/scielo.php?scri... .

Social vulnerability seeks to identify conditions that go beyond material poverty to contribute with elements for prioritization and delivery of subsidies³¹31. Moser CON. The asset vulnerability framework: reassessing urban poverty reduction strategies. World Dev. 1998;26(1):1-19. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-750X(97)10015-8
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-750X(97)10... ^,mmKaztman R. Notas sobre la medición de la vulnerabilidad social. Montevideo: Universidad Católica de Uruguay, Programa IPES; 2000 [cited 2015 Mar 14]. (Serie Documentos de Trabajo del IPES – Colección Aportes Conceptuales, 2). p.76-301. Available from: http://ucu.edu.uy/sites/default/files/facultad/dcsp/vulnerabilidad_social.pdf ^,nnFilgueira CH. Estructura de oportunidades y vulnerabilidad social, aproximaciones conceptuales recientes. Santiago de Chile: CEPAL, CELADE; 2001 [cited 2015 Mar 14]. Available from: http://www.cepal.org/publicaciones/xml/3/8283/cfilgueira.pdf , showing, at least in the concept, an advance in relation to the poverty approach that was inefficient to reverse the condition of poverty in persons, families, and communities.

In the studies and documents analyzed, a scattered and confused use of the concept of employment vulnerability was observed, depending on the country, the agency reporting the official reports, and the type of workers referred to in them.

The concept goes from a marginal use, applied to workers in the formal sector, called precarious jobs²2. Amable M, Benach J, González S. La precariedad laboral y su repercusión sobre la salud: conceptos y resultados preliminares de un estudio multimétodos. Arch Prev Riesgos Labor. 2001 [cited 2015 Aug 30];4(4):169-84. Available from: http://www.archivosdeprevencion.com/view_document.php?tpd=2&i=1281
http://www.archivosdeprevencion.com/view... ^,44. Assunção AA, Silva LS. Condições de trabalho nos ônibus e os transtornos mentais comuns em motoristas e cobradores: Região Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil, 2012. Cad Saude Publica. 2013;29(12):2473-86. https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311X00181412
https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311X0018141... ^,1111. Carvalho Junior LCS, Ramos EMC, Toledo AC, Ceccato ADF, Macchione M, Braga ALF, et al. Avaliação da qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde de cortadores de cana-de-açúcar nos períodos de entressafra e safra. Rev Saude Publica. 2012;46(6):1058-65. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0034-89102012000600016
https://doi.org/10.1590/S0034-8910201200... ^,6161. Vives A, González F, Moncada S, Llorens C, Benach J. Measuring precarious employment in times of crisis: the revised Employment Precariousness Scale (EPRES) in Spain. Gac Sanit. 2015;29(5):379-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaceta.2015.06.008
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaceta.2015.06... to the application to workers with different skills within the informal sector of the economy, as mentioned in the reports of ILO and studies from different countries, finding that the common factor is workers without affiliation to general social security systems, with low education levels, and scarce economic gains^qqOrganización Internacional del Trabajo. Aumento del empleo vulnerable y la pobreza: entrevista con el jefe de la unidad de las tendencias mundiales del empleo de la OIT. Ginebra: OIT; 2010 [cited 2013 Mar 5]. Available from: http://ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/features/WCMS_120473/lang--es/ index.htm.

For Pizarro^kkPizarro R. La vulnerabilidad social y sus desafíos: una mirada desde América Latina. Santiago de Chile: CEPAL, ECLAC; 2001 [cited 2015 Mar 1]. (CEPAL- Estudios Estadísticos y Prospectivos, 6). Available from: http://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/4762/S0102116_es.pdf?sequence=1 , what makes the conditions of employment vulnerability more evident are: the accentuation of productive heterogeneity that affects the occupation, the segmentation of the work and greater precariousness, employment deregulation (or flexibilization) without unemployment insurance, the reduction of the quantitative weight of unions, and the sustained growth of labor informality, especially for city workers.

The United Nations Development Programme of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNDP-ECLAC)⁵⁴54. Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD). Informe sobre desarrollo humano 1999. Madrid: Mundi-Prensa Libros; 1999 [cited 2015 Mar 15]. Available from: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr_1999_es_completo_nostats.pdf
http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/... considers that vulnerability and poverty are converging phenomena, describing, among other things, that “the current social scenario simultaneously records an increasing uncertainty regarding work as the main way of building the future of persons and their families”⁵⁴54. Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD). Informe sobre desarrollo humano 1999. Madrid: Mundi-Prensa Libros; 1999 [cited 2015 Mar 15]. Available from: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr_1999_es_completo_nostats.pdf
http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/... . Johnson, in the ILO report^qqOrganización Internacional del Trabajo. Aumento del empleo vulnerable y la pobreza: entrevista con el jefe de la unidad de las tendencias mundiales del empleo de la OIT. Ginebra: OIT; 2010 [cited 2013 Mar 5]. Available from: http://ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/features/WCMS_120473/lang--es/ index.htm in 2010, when mentioning the report “world employment trends”, says that by increasing vulnerable employment in the world by more than 100 million, poverty is also increased, and he notes that self-employed workers and family workers are considered as vulnerable, because difficulties with social security, corporate representation, and lack of decent work are more likely in them^qqOrganización Internacional del Trabajo. Aumento del empleo vulnerable y la pobreza: entrevista con el jefe de la unidad de las tendencias mundiales del empleo de la OIT. Ginebra: OIT; 2010 [cited 2013 Mar 5]. Available from: http://ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/features/WCMS_120473/lang--es/ index.htm.

Box 2 reflects an extensive and inaccurate use of the concept of employment vulnerability in subsistence workers. Diverse topics are described, such as employment vulnerability for work-related accidents in the formal sector of the economy⁶²62. Wilkinson R, Marmot M, editors. Social determinants of health: the solid facts. 2. ed. Stockholm: WHO Regional Office for Europe; 2003 [cited 2015 Feb 21]. Available from: http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/98438/e81384.pdf
http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pd... and globalization and its impact on the vulnerability of workers by the flexibilization of job relations⁶6. Baraldi S, Diaz MYP, Martins WJ, Carvalho Júnior DA. Globalização e seus impactos na vulnerabilidade e flexibilização das relações do trabalho em saúde. Trab Educ Saude. 2008;6(3):539-48. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1981-77462008000300008
https://doi.org/10.1590/S1981-7746200800... . They also refer to the relation of work and health in the migrant population¹1. Ahonen EQ, Benavides FG, Benach J. Immigrant populations, work and health: a systematic literature review. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2007;33(2):96-104. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.1112
https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.1112... , considered as a population with precarious employment.

In Mexico, a study mentions the needs of female street vendors to take care of their children²¹21. González L, Ortecho M, Molinatti F. Desde la vulnerabilidad a la movilidad social, con una mirada decolonial. Estud Cent Estud Av Univ Nac Cordoba. 2013 [cited 2017 Mar 28];(30):177-96. Available from: http://www.scielo.org.ar/pdf/ecea/n30/n30a11.pdf
http://www.scielo.org.ar/pdf/ecea/n30/n3... , and another study analyzes the impact of the crisis on employment vulnerability, informality, and precarious employment in young persons⁵⁶56. Salas MM, Oliveira O. Jóvenes mexicanos em medio de la crisis económica: los problemas de la integración laboral. Soc Estado. 2011;26(2):373-421. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0102-69922011000200017
https://doi.org/10.1590/S0102-6992201100... .

Argentina studies social vulnerability and job creation for populations defined as vulnerable because of their low employability, as well as the labor migration characteristics in Santiago del Estero, considering the workers denominated as “swallow”, and in what way this work meets the characteristics of decent work⁵⁹59. Tasso A, Zurita C. Aves de paso: los trabajadores estacionales de Santiago del Estero. Trab Soc. 2013 [cited 2015 Sep 27]. Available from: http://www.scielo.org.ar/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1514-68712013000200004
http://www.scielo.org.ar/scielo.php?scri... . Reviews were also observed that refer to the general population with characteristics of social vulnerability in Latin America, social mobility in neighboring areas²⁰20. Gómez-Palencia IP, Castillo-Avila IY, Banquez-Salas AP, Castro-Ortega AJ., Basquez SA., Lara-Escalante HR. Condiciones de trabajo y salud de vendedores informales estacionarios del mercado de Bazurto, en Cartagena. Rev Salud Publica. 2012 [cited 2015 Oct 4];14(3):448-59. Available from: http://www.bdigital.unal.edu.co/27063/1/24779-169086-1-PB.pdf
http://www.bdigital.unal.edu.co/27063/1/... , the dimensions of precarious employment¹³13. Cutter SL. Vulnerability to environmental hazards. Prog Hum Geogr. 1996 [cited 2015 Mar 13];20(4):529-39. Available from: http://webra.cas.sc.edu/hvri/docs/Progress_Human_Geography.pdf
http://webra.cas.sc.edu/hvri/docs/Progre... , the informal sector, and unregistered labor^rrNeffa JC. Sector informal, precariedad, trabajo no registrado. In: 9º Congreso Nacional de Estudios del Trabajo. Grupo 8: Cambios en el trabajo: reestructuración, tercerización y deslocalización de la producción. Buenos Aires: ASET; 2009 [cited 2015 Oct 3]. Available from: http://www.aset.org.ar/congresos/9/Ponencias/p8_Neffa.pdf , subsistence and alienating jobs, in the analysis of precarious employment in waste pickers⁵5. Bachiller S. El verdadero fantasma es el trabajo no cuestionado: analizando etnográficamente al concepto de alienación. Horiz Antropol. 2013;19(39):347-72. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0104-71832013000100014
https://doi.org/10.1590/S0104-7183201300... , situations of health risk in Bolivian migrants with tuberculosis who work and live in clandestine textile workshops in Buenos Aires¹⁸18. Giatti L, Barreto SM, César CC. Informal work, unemployment and health in Brazilian metropolitan areas, 1998 and 2003. Cad Saude Publica. 2008;24(10):2396-406. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0102-311X2008001000020
https://doi.org/10.1590/S0102-311X200800... , among others.

Chile has a study with 258 street vendors from the informal economy in subsistence activities for the Maula region³²32. Moyano Díaz E, Castillo Guevara R, Lizana Lizana J. Trabajo informal: motivos, bienestar subjetivo, salud, y felicidad en vendedores ambulantes. Psicol Estud. 2008;13(4): 693-701. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-73722008000400007
https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-7372200800... . Brazil has a study that shows the decrease of street sellers in the country between 2004 and 2009⁵³53. Pamplona JB., Mercado de trabalho, informalidade e comércio ambulante em São Paulo. Rev Bras Estud Popul. 2013;30(1):225-49. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0102-30982013000100011
https://doi.org/10.1590/S0102-3098201300... . There is also a study in Brazil which has approached motorcycle taxi drivers⁶⁰60. Teixeira JRB, Boery EN, Casotti CA, Araújo TM, Pereira R, Ribeiro IJS, et al. Associação entre aspectos psicossociais do trabalho e qualidade de vida de mototaxistas. Cad Saude Publica. 2015;31(1):97-110. https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311X00214313
https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311X0021431... and their perception of health and unprotected employment in the short term, without defining the concept of employment vulnerability, using precariousness in informality as reference for this analysis¹⁷17. Garzón Duque MO, Gómez Arias RD, Rodríguez Ospina FL. Indicadores y condiciones de salud en un grupo de trabajadores informales ‘venteros’ del centro de Medellín (Colombia) 2008–2009. Invest Andina. 2014 [cited 2015 Oct 4];16(28):932-48. Available from: http://www.scielo.org.co/pdf/inan/v16n28/v16n28a07.pdf
http://www.scielo.org.co/pdf/inan/v16n28... .

Other studies in Brazil¹¹11. Carvalho Junior LCS, Ramos EMC, Toledo AC, Ceccato ADF, Macchione M, Braga ALF, et al. Avaliação da qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde de cortadores de cana-de-açúcar nos períodos de entressafra e safra. Rev Saude Publica. 2012;46(6):1058-65. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0034-89102012000600016
https://doi.org/10.1590/S0034-8910201200... present the perception of quality of life for cane cutters, motorcycle taxi drivers⁶⁰60. Teixeira JRB, Boery EN, Casotti CA, Araújo TM, Pereira R, Ribeiro IJS, et al. Associação entre aspectos psicossociais do trabalho e qualidade de vida de mototaxistas. Cad Saude Publica. 2015;31(1):97-110. https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311X00214313
https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311X0021431... , and mothers whose children work in the streets of São Paulo¹²12. Cavalcante-Nóbrega LP, Mello AF, Maciel MR, Cividanes GC, Fossaluza V, Mari JJ, et al., Quality of life of mothers whose children work on the streets of São Paulo, Brazil. Cad Saude Publica. 2015;31(4):827-36. https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311X00032514
https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311X0003251... , designating them as work with characteristics of precarious employment, whether they are contract workers or informal workers. Another study has also addressed the prevalence of mental disorders in bus drivers and ticket collectors⁴4. Assunção AA, Silva LS. Condições de trabalho nos ônibus e os transtornos mentais comuns em motoristas e cobradores: Região Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil, 2012. Cad Saude Publica. 2013;29(12):2473-86. https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311X00181412
https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311X0018141... , describing that their employment also presents characteristics of precarious employment; however, it does not refer to subsistence or vulnerable jobs.

Colombia has specific analyses for informal workers with subsistence jobs who sell their products on the streets and sidewalks of cities; they are generally defined as vulnerable working population, as suggested by the regional decent work plan⁴⁸48. Organización Panamericana de la Salud. Plan Regional en Salud de los Trabajadores. Washington (DC); 2001 [cited 2015 Jan 29]. Available from: http://www.who.int/occupational_health/regions/en/oehamplanreg.pdf
http://www.who.int/occupational_health/r... . The studies were carried out between 2004 and 2013, including agricultural workers, workers in market squares, and street vendors, and they characterize the sociodemographic and economic conditions, level of affiliation to the health system, perception of some health conditions of these workers, among others, with studies carried out in Popayán⁵¹51. Palacios-Pérez AT, Sierra-Torres CH. Prevalencia y factores de riesgo asociados a alteraciones comunicativas en vendedores ambulantes de Popayán, Colombia. Rev Salud Publica. 2014;16(4):572-84. https://doi.org/10.15446/rsap.v16n4.38086
https://doi.org/10.15446/rsap.v16n4.3808... , Boyacá⁵⁰50. Ospina JM, Manrique FG, Ariza NE. Salud, ambiente y trabajo en poblaciones vulnerables: los cultivadores de papa en el centro de Boyacá. Rev Fac Nac de Salud Publica. 2008 [cited 2017 Mar 28];26(2):142-52. Available from: http://www.scielo.org.co/pdf/rfnsp/v26n2/v26n2a05.pdf
http://www.scielo.org.co/pdf/rfnsp/v26n2... , Cartagena¹⁹19. Goldberg A. Contextos de vulnerabilidad social y situaciones de riesgo para la salud: tuberculosis en inmigrantes bolivianos que trabajan y viven en talleres textiles clandestinos de Buenos Aires. Cuad Antropol Soc. 2014 [cited 2017 Mar 28];(39):91-114. Available from: http://www.scielo.org.ar/pdf/cas/n39/n39a04.pdf
http://www.scielo.org.ar/pdf/cas/n39/n39... , Medelin¹⁶16. Foschiatti AMH, compiladora. Aportes conceptuales y empíricos de la vulnerabilidad global. Resistencia: Editorial Universitaria; 2009 [cited 2015 Mar 14]. Available from: http://hum.unne.edu.ar/publicaciones/instGeo/digitales/vulnerabilidades/archivos/cap1.pdf
http://hum.unne.edu.ar/publicaciones/ins... , Bogotá⁵⁸58. Sotelo-Suarez NR, Quiroz-Arcentales JL, Mahecha-Montilla CP, López-Sanchez PA. Condiciones de salud y trabajo de las mujeres en la economía informal Bogotá 2007. Rev Salud Publica. 2012 [cited 2015 Oct 4];14 Supl 1:32-42. Available from: http://www.scielo.org.co/pdf/rsap/v14s1/v14s1a04.pdf
http://www.scielo.org.co/pdf/rsap/v14s1/... , etc.

On the other hand, there is a national diagnosis of health and work conditions, in which close to 20,000 workers of the informal economy participated in 20 states³⁰30. Ministerio de la Protección Social (COL). Diagnóstico nacional de condiciones de salud y trabajo de las personas ocupadas en el sectror informal de la economía de 20 departamentos de Colombia y propuesta de monitoreo de éstas condiciones. Medellín; 2008..

There are also studies such as the 100 environmental pickers in rural Medelin²⁶26. Lenis Ballesteros V, López Arango YL, Cuadros Urrego YM. Condiciones de salud y de trabajo informal en recuperadores ambientales del área rural de Medellín, Colombia, 2008. Rev Saude Publica. 2012;46(5):866-74. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0034-89102012000500014
https://doi.org/10.1590/S0034-8910201200... , designated as having precarious and vulnerable jobs; however, the concept of employment vulnerability for these populations was not defined.

The description of labor informality in Colombia is based on information from the Large Integrated Home Survey – National Administrative Department of Statistics (GEIH-DANE 2010)^ssGuataqui Ros RC, García-Suaza A, Rodríguez-Acosta M. El perfil de la informalidad laboral en Colombia. Bogotá: Universidad del Rosario, Facultad de Economía; 2011[cited 2015 Oct 3]. (Documentos de Trabajo, 95). Available from: http://www.urosario.edu.co/urosario_files/84/84048d18-e754-4f80-afc5-f80d4b092260.pdf , being more difficult to specify a concept of employment vulnerability applied to a specific group and which can facilitate the targeting of actions at the national and regional level.

DISCUSSION

The concept, use, and application of the term informal economy is as broad and diverse as the population to which it applies, and although it shares general characteristics, they cannot be unified in the particular, since they include workers that are considered as formal being in the informal economy, and workers who are in the formal economy being considered as informal⁵⁵55. Ruiz ME, Tarafa Orpinell G, Jódar Martínez P, Benach J. ¿Es posible comparar el empleo informal en los países de América del Sur? Análisis de su definición, clasificación y medición. Gac Sanit. 2015;29(1):65-71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaceta.2014.07.015
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaceta.2014.07... , in addition to many other derivations given by the job classifications of ILO³⁵35. Oficina Internacional del Trabajo. Medición de la economía informal. Ginebra: OIT; 2011 [cited 2015 Apr 1]. Available from: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/---emp_policy/documents/publication/wcms_229450.pdf
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/... ^,4444. Organización Internacional del Trabajo. Resolución sobre la Clasificación Internacional de la Situación en el Empleo (CISE), adoptada por la Decimoquinta Conferencia Internacional de Estadísticos del Trabajo. Ginebra; 1993 [cited 2015 Mar 20]. Available from: http://ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---stat/documents/normativeinstrument/wcms_087564.pdf
http://ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---d... .

On the other hand, heterogeneity is present in the use of the term precarious employment, because for some countries such as Brazil the few field studies with informal workers or with precarious jobs is more related to the formal sector and workers with work contracts⁴4. Assunção AA, Silva LS. Condições de trabalho nos ônibus e os transtornos mentais comuns em motoristas e cobradores: Região Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil, 2012. Cad Saude Publica. 2013;29(12):2473-86. https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311X00181412
https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311X0018141... ^,1111. Carvalho Junior LCS, Ramos EMC, Toledo AC, Ceccato ADF, Macchione M, Braga ALF, et al. Avaliação da qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde de cortadores de cana-de-açúcar nos períodos de entressafra e safra. Rev Saude Publica. 2012;46(6):1058-65. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0034-89102012000600016
https://doi.org/10.1590/S0034-8910201200... ^,5555. Ruiz ME, Tarafa Orpinell G, Jódar Martínez P, Benach J. ¿Es posible comparar el empleo informal en los países de América del Sur? Análisis de su definición, clasificación y medición. Gac Sanit. 2015;29(1):65-71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaceta.2014.07.015
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaceta.2014.07... ^,6060. Teixeira JRB, Boery EN, Casotti CA, Araújo TM, Pereira R, Ribeiro IJS, et al. Associação entre aspectos psicossociais do trabalho e qualidade de vida de mototaxistas. Cad Saude Publica. 2015;31(1):97-110. https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311X00214313
https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311X0021431... than to workers with subsistence jobs on the streets and sidewalks of cities.

The conceptual dispersion and the implications of the scarce differentiation between subsistence jobs, precarious employment, work in informal jobs, or the informal sector are still unclear.

The systematic reviews⁵⁵55. Ruiz ME, Tarafa Orpinell G, Jódar Martínez P, Benach J. ¿Es posible comparar el empleo informal en los países de América del Sur? Análisis de su definición, clasificación y medición. Gac Sanit. 2015;29(1):65-71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaceta.2014.07.015
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaceta.2014.07... mention that informal employment in the countries of Latin America cannot be compared, since heterogeneous and poorly defined concepts are assumed which leave a nebulous area in which workers with subsistence jobs can be made invisible by the ILO classifications^ttOrganización Internacional del Trabajo Resolución sobre la actualización de la Clasificación Internacional Uniforme de Ocupaciones. Estructura de la Clasificación Internacional Uniforme de Ocupaciones. Ginebra: OIT: 2008 [cited 2015 Sep 27]. Available from: http://www.ilo.org/public/spanish/bureau/stat/isco/docs/resol08.pdf .

We have also observed that each country, via targeting³⁰30. Ministerio de la Protección Social (COL). Diagnóstico nacional de condiciones de salud y trabajo de las personas ocupadas en el sectror informal de la economía de 20 departamentos de Colombia y propuesta de monitoreo de éstas condiciones. Medellín; 2008.^,ggMinisterio del Trabajo (COL); Organización Iberoamericana de Seguridad Social (OISS). II Encuesta Nacional de Condiciones de Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo en el Sistema General de Riesgos Laborales de Colombia. Bogotá (DC); 2013 [cited 2014 Sep 2]. Available from: http://ccs.org.co/salaprensa/images/Documentos/INFORME_EJECUTIVO_II%20ENCSST.pdf ^,hhDepartamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística (COL). Medición del empleo informal y seguridad social: trimestre móvil febrero - abril de 2013: resúmen ejecutivo. Bogotá (DC); 2013 [cited 2015 Aug 30]. Available from: http://www.dane.gov.co/files/investigaciones/boletines/ech/ech_informalidad/re_ech_informalidad_feb_abr2013.pdf , seeks to advance actions to improve the living and working conditions of those who have this type of jobs. This could be the case with street vendors.

According to the ILO classification (2008)⁴³43. Organización Internacional del Trabajo. Resolución sobre la actualización de la Clasificación Internacional Uniforme de Ocupaciones: estructura de la CIUO-08. [cited 2015 Oct 3]. Available from: http://www.ilo.org/public/spanish/bureau/stat/isco/docs/resol08.pdf
http://www.ilo.org/public/spanish/bureau... , agricultural workers were considered to be subsistence workers, but street vendors were not considered in the same way, which were classified as self-employed workers⁴³43. Organización Internacional del Trabajo. Resolución sobre la actualización de la Clasificación Internacional Uniforme de Ocupaciones: estructura de la CIUO-08. [cited 2015 Oct 3]. Available from: http://www.ilo.org/public/spanish/bureau/stat/isco/docs/resol08.pdf
http://www.ilo.org/public/spanish/bureau... , without indicating that this condition causes them to work by day to eat at night in a subsistence job.

Although the concept of social and employment vulnerability has been incorporated for some time in Colombia, subsidies aimed at overcoming poverty continue to be in force.

This concept of the different mechanisms of focus cannot be erased, disappearing the essence of the concept “social vulnerability” proposed by Moser³¹31. Moser CON. The asset vulnerability framework: reassessing urban poverty reduction strategies. World Dev. 1998;26(1):1-19. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-750X(97)10015-8
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-750X(97)10... , and adjusted by Kaztman and Filgueira¹⁵15. Filgueira CH, Peri A. América Latina: los rostros de la pobreza y sus causa determinantes núm. Santiago de Chile: Nações Unidas, CEPAL; 2004 [cited 2015 Mar 14]. (CEPAL Series - Población y Desarrollo, 54). Available from: http://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/7192/S045458_es.pdf?sequence=1
http://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/h... ^,nnFilgueira CH. Estructura de oportunidades y vulnerabilidad social, aproximaciones conceptuales recientes. Santiago de Chile: CEPAL, CELADE; 2001 [cited 2015 Mar 14]. Available from: http://www.cepal.org/publicaciones/xml/3/8283/cfilgueira.pdf ^,ooKaztman R, Coordinador. Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo PNUD - Uruguay. Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe CEPAL - Oficina de Montevideo. Activos y estructuras de oportunidades - estudios sobre las raíces de la vulnerabilidad social en Uruguay. Montevideo: PNUD, CEPAL; 1999 [cited 2015 Mar 14]. Available from: http://www.cepal.org/publicaciones/xml/2/10772/caratula.pdf who propose seeing the assets of individuals, families, and communities as capitals.

Within these capitals, work is included as a starting point in overcoming deficiencies, and it was observed that, accompanied by a structure of opportunities, they allow the worker, the family, and the community to predict situations of potential loss, facing and resisting them.

In this sense, the perspectives could point to the overcoming of vulnerability, and the Government, market, and community ensure that they are available⁶¹61. Vives A, González F, Moncada S, Llorens C, Benach J. Measuring precarious employment in times of crisis: the revised Employment Precariousness Scale (EPRES) in Spain. Gac Sanit. 2015;29(5):379-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaceta.2015.06.008
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaceta.2015.06... ^,ppPrograma de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD). Informe sobre Desarrollo Humano 2014: sostener el progreso humano: reducir vulnerabilidades y construir resiliencia: resumen. New York; 2014 [cited 2015 Aug 29]. Available from: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr14-summary-es.pdf .

Work can either boost assets or exacerbate situations of poverty, shortage, and danger, which is why it is not an issue of simply identifying the assets that workers may have.

In order for working populations to overcome adversities, they need a structure of opportunities that maximize both their acquisition and their effective materialization with decent, free, and protected work.

The informal worker designated as vulnerable with subsistence work could present low education level, difficulty accessing health systems, and weak ties with the labor market³⁴34. Oficina Internaconal del Trabajo. Guía sobre los nuevos indicadores de empleo de los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio: incluido el conjunto completo de Indicadores de Trabajo Decente. Empleo vulnerable. Ginebra: OIT; 2009 [cited 2015 Apr 1]. Available from: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/documents/publication/wcms_110513.pdf
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/... ; however, specific information is still scarce for different groups of vulnerable workers.

It is difficult to retrieve information that shows the defined profiles of employment vulnerability for those who make the streets and sidewalks of the cities their place of work with subsistence jobs, hindering both the application of the concept and its implementation in the field, and leaving particular situations in an area of uncertainty that must be addressed in a special way. With the above, social and work disadvantage conditions were evidenced in Latin America, particularly in Colombia^{3,9,16–18,24,32,50,51,58,r}, where despite the evidence, these conditions are not taken into account for the reconfiguration of their social and labor peculiarities. This condition can lead to a greater deterioration of the physical and mental health of workers, accompanied by economic, social, and family consequences, making it more difficult to overcome employment vulnerability in terms of weakness to mobilize assets, use them, and the scarce or lack of opportunities to overcome poverty.

After reviewing and analyzing the concepts of informality, social-employment vulnerability and precarious employment, it can be said that there is little scientific evidence to define a concept that fits workers with subsistence jobs, understanding that within them we have those who make the streets and sidewalks of cities their place of work. A concept is needed to define the profile of precarious employment to move towards overcoming this condition, giving way to the fulfillment of the assumptions of the regional decent work program of ILO³⁴34. Oficina Internaconal del Trabajo. Guía sobre los nuevos indicadores de empleo de los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio: incluido el conjunto completo de Indicadores de Trabajo Decente. Empleo vulnerable. Ginebra: OIT; 2009 [cited 2015 Apr 1]. Available from: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/documents/publication/wcms_110513.pdf
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/... ^,3737. Oficína Internacional del Trabajo. 90ª Sesión de la Conferencia Internacional del Trabajo: trabajo decente y economía Informal: 6. Ginebra; OIT; 2002 [cited 2015 Oct 3]. Available from: http://www.ilo.org/public/spanish/standards/relm/ilc/ilc90/pdf/rep-vi.pdf
http://www.ilo.org/public/spanish/standa... ^,4040. Oficína Internacional del Trabajo. Trabajo decente en las Américas: una agenda hemisférica, 2006-2015: informe del director general. Ginebra: OIT; 2006 [cited 2015 Oct 3]. Available from: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---webdev/documents/publication/wcms_081003.pdf
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/... .

Thus, it is evident the need for greater conceptual clarity that facilitates the methodological application for the analysis with this type of population.

As a result of this review, we propose that informal street workers are those who, having a subsistence job, work during the say to eat at night, and whose vulnerability exists because of their scarce or nonexistent possession of assets and a minimum structure of opportunities to prevent, face, and resist the critical situations that appear daily, endangering their subsistence and that of the persons they are responsible for, thus making the connection between social and employment vulnerability.

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