The changing role of employment and alternative income sources among the urban poor: a systematic literature review

ABSTRACT We perform a systematic review of the literature on the association between income, employment, and urban poverty from a multidisciplinary perspective. Our results, derived from the analysis of 243 articles, confirm the significant role of employment in the urban poor’s lives, highlighting several factors that constrain their ability to improve their labour market outcomes: lack of access to public transport, geographical segregation, labour informality, among others. Furthermore, the paper finds different strategies used by the poor to promote their inclusion in their city’s economy. We found a major bias towards research focused on advanced economies, stressing the need for development studies dealing with the specific challenges of developing economies.