Introduction Social protection is a public good. Public goods should be generally accessible to all(national) citizens, independent of their residence or occupation(Wimmer 2018). 4 Such public goods should be characterized by so-called»non-rivalry« in the sense that one person’s consumption should not change the amount available for others to consume. They also should be characterized by non-excludability, meaning that nobody can be excluded from enjoying a public good. Ensuring access to public goods is the responsibility of gov­ernments at different levels. What constitutes a public good and how such goods can be provided is thus the outcome of – often contentious – political processes. Whereas certain public goods are mentioned and referenced in international declarations, covenants and agendas(for example, Agenda 2030), access to public goods depends on concrete policies, available resources and political economy in a particular context. For example, whereas in some countries the pro­vision of comprehensive health care is the responsibility of the state, in others private health care providers play a more prominent role. 1.4 METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH The approach chosen in this research project on social protection in the informal economy follows the idea that people’s attitudes and perceptions matter for policymaking. Against this background, the cooperating partners the Frie­drich-Ebert-Stiftung(FES), the German Institute of Develop­ment and Sustainability(IDOS) and the International Labour Organization(ILO), with the support of research institutes affiliated to the Afrobarometer network, agreed to design an empirical survey to investigate people’s perceptions, similar to an opinion poll. We selected the various countries to do justice to the di­versity of situations in the informal economy in different regional and national contexts. They were selected with different sizes of population in mind. We chose a mixture of countries, ranging from small(population of 15–20 million: Benin, Senegal. Zambia), to medium-sized(population of 21–70 million: Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire at the lower end), and 4 Who is considered a national citizen is itself subject to and an out­come of political struggles(Kobo 2010). large(population of 71–120 million: Ethiopia). This selection also reflects different levels of average per capita income, varying between least-developed countries(LDC) and mid­dle-income countries(MIC). All six countries score low on the human development index. In addition, we took care to include both, Anglophone and Francophone countries. A detailed description of the survey methodology is provided in Chapter 9, which describes the questionnaire, sampling, data collection and data processing. As the individual chapters of this report address different types of research questions, the authors apply different methods, which fit the respective questions. 1.5 KEY FINDINGS AND ENTRY POINTS FOR POLICYMAKING A key finding emerging from the surveys is that in all six countries there is extremely high demand for social protec­tion, in particular health care, but also great opportunities to establish health insurance schemes. At the same time, people’s trust in their governments and other actors to provide social security is low. Moreover, people in informal employment seek to self-organize to obtain some of the social protection which they do not receive from the state. The findings from the survey analysis suggest a variety of entry points for states, international donors and other actors to advance the provision of social protection. And indeed, the expectations and concerns expressed in the surveys by people in informal employment can reorient public social protection policies. The survey findings indicate that social protection should not be linked to employment contracts alone but be organized outside labour relationships as well. When employment does not provide social protection through contributory social provisions, social inclusion must come without a labour contract. Improved access to health care is the state service most in demand among people work­ing in the informal economy. Several chapters in this report focus on health care – in particular, demand for it – and people’s willingness to join and pay for a health insurance scheme. The timing of the surveys, which began in 2018 and continued up to 2021, enabled us to include data on the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. As we found that Table 1.1 Traits of selected countries Country Small(15–20) Population size* medium-sizes (21–70) large(71–120) Benin X Ethiopia X Côte d’Ivoire X Kenya X Senegal X Zambia X Note:* Millions. Source: Authors’ compilation based on World Bank Indicators 2021. Income level LDC+ low human development MIC+ low human development X X X X X X Colonial influence Anglophone Francophone X X X X X 5