68% of Mumbai’s workforce is employed by the informal sector. A vast majority of these workers are the urban poor - excluded not only from formal sector jobs, but also from formal sector housing - living in slums and informal settlements across the city.
Given that informal sector employment is frequently characterised by low wages and incomes, a lack of social security, and the absence of legal protection, the tremendous diversity and enterprise exhibited among occupation profiles
within Mumbai’s unorganized sector, is both unexpected and inspiring.
The following stories of MHFC customers are a reflection of this sector’s exceptional diversity, as well its creativity, resilience and even optimism in the face of various adversities that accompany informality in Mumbai.
Informality in Mumbai