The scale of the informal sector is increasing every year. To date , more than 14.5 million people have been involved in it . The legalization of labor relations is put forward as a task, the solution of which is aimed at improving the national security of Russia. To develop the most effective measures to reduce the level of informal employment, it is necessary to have an idea of its structure and trends of its changes. The article examines the distribution of the shares of those involved in the informal sector depending on demographic characteristics, level of education, status, main activities and geographical location. An analysis of the data provided by Rosstat allows us to conclude that about a third of the informally employed are young people (no older than 34 years). More than half of the men working in this sector make up this age group. Pensioners and pre-retirees are more represented by women. The share of people with higher and secondary vocational education in the structure of the informal sector is increasing every year. The vast majority of people involved in the sector under study (94 %) consider working in it as the only source of income. In addition, the number of employees increases annually and the number of self-employed decreases. About 80 % of all workers in the informal sector are employed in 5 areas (manufacturing, agriculture, construction, trade, transportation and storage). There is a discrepancy between the specific weight of individual industries in the structure of the informal and formal sectors. Finally, the regions of Russia vary greatly in the share of informally employed in the overall employment structure. Thus, the North Caucasus Federal District is three times ahead of the Central Federal District in this indicator.
informal sector, structure of the informal sector, informal employment
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