Shelley Stewart
Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company; Global Leader of Insights, Reputation & Engagement and founder/chair of the McKinsey Institute for Economic Mobility.
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APPEARANCES
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PODCASTS
Apr 24, 2026
Sabri Ben-AchourHOST
Now, I know literally part of the definition is that we can't see it, but how big is that economy here in the U.S.?
Shelley StewartGUEST
There are a few different ways that folks measure it, that we try to estimate it.
Shelley StewartGUEST
One of those is that the IRS estimates a tax gap, a difference between what should be paid versus what is paid.
Shelley StewartGUEST
The Federal Reserve does a survey of household economic decision-making that shows about 20% of people responding work outside of formal employment.
Sabri Ben-AchourHOST
What would it take to bring more workers into the formal economy? But also, do we want to do that?
Shelley StewartGUEST
To bring more people into the formal economy, we need to make formal work more accessible.