Employment in the Informal Economy: A Sociological Study of Informal Sector and Street Vending Activists in the Period of COVID-19 Pandemic at Gopalganj Sadar, Bangladesh

Informal sector and businesses activities are directly dependent on Covid-19. It has been observed that there is influx of population as well as natural population growth which created tremendous problem in providing services by the different urban public agencies as well as providing employment opportunities for the ever increasing population. As a result, the new migrants are compelled to work in the informal sector where there are fewer requirements of capital and other supporting services and Covid-19 is impediment. Gopalganj is the still rising city of Bangladesh where most of the population is the migrants from the neighboring districts. The present study has been conducted with an aim to find out the socio-economic status, forms and structure, distribution pattern and Covid-19 risk of informal sector business activities in Gopalganj Sadar, Bangladesh. The study shows that, most of the young people are engaged in the informal sector business activities. The study revealed three types of informal- trade food, services and others. The trade food activities dominate the informal sector in the Gopalganj Sadar. It has been observed that, few numbers of women engaged in the informal sector are engaged in trade food. It also observed that informal worker faced covid-19 risks. Most of the informal sector business activities have been developed with their own capital and few people received institutional loan so far. The reasons for selecting the location for the informal sector business activities are availability of space, availability of customers, demand for the particular type of activity etc. In this sector service is sold instead of any product and obviously at low cost. There are some services that are available only in informal sector.