As they recognise, it is highly unlikely that any micro-enterprise will take all 12 steps
in one fell-swoop and its intention is to help them take each of these steps individually
so that eventually, they can become a formal business. For this organisation, moreover,
the objective is to encourage their clients to take at least three new steps in any
12-month period. If they do, then they are classified as being on the road to
transforming themselves from an undeclared enterprise to a formal business.
Obviously, this advisory service is just one way of facilitating the transfer of work
from the undeclared sector into formal employment. The reason for highlighting it is
simply to show that initiatives already exist that can be more widely used if
governments wish to take a more positive approach.
Conclusions and future research
In sum, this paper has evaluated critically the representation of undeclared work as
low-paid exploitative organised employment conducted under sweatshop conditions
and the related public policy approach that views this illegitimate sphere as a
hindrance to development and actively pursues its deterrence. Reporting evidence from
English localities, it has been here highlighted that the vast majority of undeclared
work is conducted on a self-employed basis and that some use this sphere as a launch
pad for new business ventures. The outcome has been a call for public policy to start to
view this sector more as an asset to be harnessed rather than an activity to be deterred
and for greater emphasis to be put on developing initiatives to facilitate the
legitimisation of this illegitimate endeavour