Labour & informal economy
Home-Based Worker
Workers who carry out remunerated work from their home or premises of their choice — a large, mostly informal and female category recognised by ILO Convention 177.
Definition
Home-based workers are workers whose place of work is their own home or other premises of their choice, encompassing two broad types: subcontracted homeworkers producing goods or services for an employer or intermediary for remuneration — the category defined by ILO Convention No. 177 (1996) — and own-account self-employed workers operating from home. Home-based work represents a substantial share of employment, especially of women's employment, in developing economies.
References
treaty definition
worker typology
Overview
What it means
Working from home is the world's oldest workplace, but home-based workers sit at the bottom of supply chains: invisible to labour inspection, often paid piece rates, and excluded from social protection. C177 obliges ratifying states to pursue national policies promoting equality of treatment between homeworkers and other wage earners.
The garment, craft, and electronics assembly sectors rely heavily on this workforce.
How it is used
The term anchors informal-economy statistics, supply-chain mapping, and organising campaigns by networks such as WIEGO and HomeNet.
Why it matters
Decent-work commitments fail if the workers making products in their own homes remain legally invisible.
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