Abstract :
The majority of the urban working poor in Zimbabwe have always been, and still are, in formal wage employment. Despite the failure of wage increases since independence to keep pace with inflation, the majority of urban low-income families depend on a single wage. Consistent attempts to control the informal sector have restricted alternative economic opportunities for those unable to secure formal-sector jobs. In recent years, recession and adjustment policies resulting, inter alia, in wage freezes, price decontrol and the imposition of fees for education and health services, have worsened the position of low-income urban residents. The strategies adopted by poor households in Gweru are examined, based on sample household surveys carried out in 1991 and detailed follow-up interviews in 1993, paying particular attention to their attempts to cope with the initial impact of recession and structural adjustment in the 1990s. The most common responses have been to diversify productive and reproductive activities, but the scope for such diversification varies between households, which have, therefore, different degrees of resilience and vulnerability.
