Overview
- IIEP–UBA/Conicet’s analysis of EPH–INDEC data places informal work at 43.2 percent in the latest quarter, a 1.6 percentage point rise from a year earlier.
- Workers aged 16 to 24 are most affected, with an informality rate of 63 percent, far above other age groups.
- Informal workers earn about 44 percent less than comparable formal workers, reflecting a substantial and persistent pay penalty.
- By job type, informality reaches 37.7 percent among employees, 62.5 percent among the self-employed, and 22.2 percent among employers, with employees accounting for 63 percent of all informal jobs.
- The current level matches late-2008 readings and is the highest since then aside from a brief 2022 spike, while some media attribute recent increases to the ‘Ley Bases’ removal of fines for non-registration, a claim not broadly corroborated.