Earning On the Street: Occupational Experiences of Women Fish Vendors

Abstract

Fish street vending is an important activity that gives employment opportunities to many women. The goal of this study is to determine the occupational difficulties of women street vendors as well as how they cope and act in the face of adversity, and their learning insights while doing the job. The researchers employed a transcendental phenomenological design that involves the researcher bracketing themselves through acknowledging experiences with the phenomenon under investigation. Ten women fish vendors who are presently living in Malita, Davao Occidental, were chosen as participants through purposive sampling. Following intensive analysis, the results were organized into themes and core ideas. The themes highlight participants’ exact experiences, such as occupational difficulties, coping mechanisms to alleviate problems, and realizations in doing the job. It was shown that women street vendors were motivated to start a business because of their family’s needs and to generate income. The issues or challenges they encountered in doing business include a lack of capital, hard physical labor, paying rentals, and challenging weather conditions. Street vendors also consider self-help strategies and loans as their primary coping strategies.