Self-Employed Workers, Teachers, and Delivery Couriers in a City "Under Quarantine": Modes of Work and Living Conditions in Rafaela (Santa Fe, 2020)

Abstract

The analyses in this chapter are part of the research project “Practices and Perceptions of the World of Work in Rafaela (2019-2021)", funded by the National University of Rafaela (UNRaf) and led by Dr. Gabriela Vergara and Dr. Pedro Lisdero. The main goal is to examine work patterns and living conditions during Aislamiento Social Preventivo y Obligatorio (ASPO – Preventive and Mandatory Social Isolation) in Rafaela (Santa Fe) throughout 2020. Researchers conducted interviews and self-administered surveys via WhatsApp and Google Forms to achieve this. These tools were used during 2020 to gather data from workers in various sectors, including self-employed individuals, educators, and delivery workers. The interviews provided insight into how these individuals’ jobs were maintained or transformed, as well as their perceptions of these changes. Meanwhile, the surveys provided data to compare these perceptions with the material conditions under which these activities occurred. A purposive sample was selected to reflect diverse situations, such as occupational category, formality or informality, permanent or temporary employment, and public or private sector work. The chapter aims to determine whether significant changes occurred in Rafaela’s labor landscape, the role (or lack thereof) of ASPO, and how the class’s “announcements” that it lives off work were received.