Investigating the subjective well-being of the informally employed: a case study of day labourers in Windhoek and Pretoria

Abstract

The topic of subjective well-being (SWB) is receiving attention from academics and policymakers. Although many studies have been done on subjective well-being, very few focus on the informal economy. This dissertation investigates the subjective well-being of day labourers in Pretoria and Windhoek. Day labouring is an informal employment activity that is becoming more frequent in developing countries. The choice of the two cities is based on their status as the capital cities of two countries that are both experiencing increasing numbers of day labourers. This study contributes to a better understanding of the level and determinants of SWB of day labourers. Data is sourced from comparable surveys among day labourers in the two cities in 2015 and 2017 respectively. Ordinary Least Squares and Ordered-Probit analysis are used to estimate the relationship between SWB and several other independent variables. Although income was added as a variable to see if it had an effect on subjective well-being (SWB), the variable was not significant and was discarded in the rest of the estimations. The estimations of the Pretoria data revealed that the total number of dependants of the day labourers, the conditions in which the day labourers are living and if they had a full time job before starting to work as day labourers, were all significant in explaining the subjective well-being of the day labourers in Pretoria. The analysis of the Windhoek data revealed that experience, living conditions, education levels, number of total dependants for which day labourers have to care, total days without food, whether the labourers stay with their families and whether they are foreigners, are all variables that are significant in explaining the subjective well-being of day labourers in Windhoek. The results show that the day labourers in Windhoek seemingly value family more than the day labourers in Pretoria. Separate regressions were run for Pretoria and Windhoek to establish whether the same determinants are significant for the two different countries.