Anyone who has lived in the (NYC metro) region can almost certainly provide you more anecdotes. Filtering by circumstances I can personally attest to in NYC proper:
- 3 situations where nannies were being paid entirely under the table (this one is less common now that everyone I know is over 26 and needs health insurance)
- a small (legitimate) business owner who regularly employs a handyman under the table
- restaurant staff who don't report cash tips (too common to count)
- Street vendors all over the place (including those who were openly selling cannabis prior to legalization)
- Tour guides working entirely for cash
- Lots of technically-illegal off-the-books living situations (a living wage goes a lot further when you're willing to live in a basement studio apartment with no windows).
- Small stores with a "regulars" discount that never hits the register
Probably, but some phenomena can exist that don't get tracked well. At some point, a plurality of primary testimony that N is pervasive needs to be enough to break through the paradox of the heap.
- 3 situations where nannies were being paid entirely under the table (this one is less common now that everyone I know is over 26 and needs health insurance)
- a small (legitimate) business owner who regularly employs a handyman under the table
- restaurant staff who don't report cash tips (too common to count)
- Street vendors all over the place (including those who were openly selling cannabis prior to legalization)
- Tour guides working entirely for cash
- Lots of technically-illegal off-the-books living situations (a living wage goes a lot further when you're willing to live in a basement studio apartment with no windows).
- Small stores with a "regulars" discount that never hits the register