Abstract Women in both developed and developing countries use a wide range of informal employment to ensure the survival of themselves and their families. Informal employment has not only increasingly become the important means of female employment in developed countries, but also become the main channel for urban female employment in developing countries, especially for female migrants. The activities of women in the informal sectors have been new hot issues for many scholars. In this paper, the authors give a review of female informal employment research at home and abroad, which focuses on the theory of female informal employment, type, motivation, characteristics, importance, methods and group differences, as well as the relationship between poverty, globalization and the female informal employment. The authors also explore the impact of informal employment on women and the counter measures for female informal employment. Based on the comprehensive review of the study, the authors find that the foreign studies have the following characteristics:their research being global, the teams being on the increase, the theories being plural and the content being diversified. They also point out the deficiencies in the existing domestic studies are fewer theoretical researches, inadequate consideration of selfish departmentalism and an immature research system. Based on the former review, we abstracted the characteristics of foreign studies from four aspects:global-scale research, developed research team, pluralistic theories, and multiple topics. We also pointed out the deficiencies in domestic existing studies. Few lights are shed on theoretical research; the consideration of selfish departmentalism for female informal labors is lacking; and the research system is far from perfect. In the end, some suggestions are offered for the future research on this topic. Firstly, the application of foreign theories, integrating with the exploration on domestic theory, is necessary. Secondly, attention should be paid to sectors and regions where female informal employments are concentrated. Thirdly, a spate of studies that focus on policies and mechanisms of female informal employment should be conducted in the future.
2009, Vol. 24 
