Introduction

Abstract

Earnings of the poor populations have three major sources: informal activities, cash or in-kind transfers from other households and from the communities (that replace the lack of public social transfers) and unpaid care work (not taken into account by GDPs but accounting for the living standards). The political economy of development cannot be understood without taking into account the informal activities of the majority of the people, the role of social capital in societies where public social transfers are lacking and the hidden contribution of women to the household well-being through their unpaid care work. Recognising and assessing the role of these three forms of resilience is of major importance in order to understand how large and poor populations can make a living and survive under such conditions characterised by high unemployment and underemployment rates and more generally huge demographic challenges, as well as food insecurity, economic and social instability and uncertainty and globalised competition.