Informal employment is one of the key features of the Romanian labour market and the main concerns of the Romanian government. Informal employment is not new in Romania. A second economy was present in the communist era, and took various forms, ranging from family farming to off-the-books payments and misappropriation in state-owned enterprises. It is extremely important for policy making to  understand the forms that informal employment takes as well as its determinants. This study attempts to shed light on the issue of informal work in Romania. First it reviews the evidence on informal employment, distinguishing its different forms. Second, it provides a detailed description of the characteristics of people in informal employment and the sectors where informal work is most prevalent; and, further, it analyses the
factors responsible for the persistence of informal employment. Finally it discusses policy
options and measures to deal with informal employment, recognising its role for poor and
vulnerable groups of workers.