Day Labourers, Unemployment and Socio-economic Development in South Africa

Harmse, Alet; Blaauw, Derick; Schenck, Rinie

doi:10.1007/s12132-009-9067-8

Cited by 22 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Every day tens of thousands of men (and occasionally women) gather at hiring sites in towns and cities, seeking employment for the day or for a limited period (Harmse, Blaauw & Schenck 2009). They have no guarantee of being hired on any of the six to seven days per week that they congregate at these sites.…”

Section: Brief Literature Overview: Day Labouring and Subjective Wellmentioning

confidence: 99%

The subjective well-being of day labourers in South Africa: The role of income and geographical location

Blaauw

Botha

Schenck

2018

SAJEMS

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Background: The informal economy in South Africa provides employment to large numbers of people who would otherwise have no opportunity to earn a living. Yet informal activities, such as day labouring, generate highly uncertain returns. Although it seems reasonable to conclude that day labourers would be dissatisfied with their lives, this is not necessarily the case as several factors contribute to people’s subjective well-being. Aim: This study is in response to a call for more research on the subjective well-being of marginalised groups in South Africa’s informal labour market. Setting: The day labour market in South Africa, whose members congregate at hiring sites hoping to be picked up by passers-by in need of temporary, casual workers. Methods: Using Sen’s Capability Approach, the study builds on earlier research conducted on the general well-being of day labourers in South Africa, with specific focus on their subjective well-being and geographical location. The results from a countrywide survey of 3830 day labourers were used in a regression analysis to compare the subjective well-being among day labourers across the nine provinces of South Africa. Results: There are statistically significant differences in the well-being of day labourers across the nine provinces. Economic variables play a role in both objective and subjective measures of well-being, while attitudinal and comparison variables are significant for the objective and subjective measures, respectively. Conclusions: Although they have to operate in harsh conditions, day labourers in South Africa display agency by choosing to migrate to richer provinces in search of greater economic opportunity and reward. However, these potential gains are often negated by increased levels of competition and thus depressed wage levels. How to nurture marginalised groups’ abilities to exercise agency and take more control of their lives represents fertile ground for researchers in future.

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Section: Brief Literature Overview: Day Labouring and Subjective Wellmentioning

confidence: 99%

The subjective well-being of day labourers in South Africa: The role of income and geographical location

Blaauw

Botha

Schenck

2018

SAJEMS

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“…This is similar to (2) and the method of Hollingsworth [11], but the constant n is omitted. The objective function in (3) can only be calculated for all D j > 0 and for all O i > 0.…”

Section: Literature Review On Analysis Of Flow Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…a highly developed metropolitan core region, an upward transitional region, a downward transitional region, a resource frontier region and special problem regions. Harmse et al [11] reapplied this technique on 2001 Census data, using the following socioeconomic variables:…”

Section: Principal Component and Cluster Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to Harmse et al [11] the data matrix, consisting of 16 variables and 249 spatial units, was subjected to a principal component analysis. Three principal components had eigenvalues larger than 1, and together they were responsible for 77.9% of the variation in the original data set.…”

Section: Principal Component/cluster Analysis Compared With Intramaxmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this case, 15.4% of the population contributes 3.9% of total employment and 2.1% of total income. These regions pose a challenge to development [11]. Table 4: Contribution of each regional type to selected variables [11].…”

Section: Principal Component/cluster Analysis Compared With Intramaxmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The identification of possible future provincial boundaries for South Africa based on an intramax analysis of journey-to-work data

Nel¹,

Krygsman²,

Jong³

2008

ORiON

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National census data contain information on place of residence and place of work. It is possible to combine this information and create journey-to-work flows. The process of establishing these flows are presented in this paper. The intramax method is explained and used to identify functional regions based upon these flows. Interesting applications, such as the demarcation of regions in South Africa are considered and solutions to disputed areas are put forward. The process of the creation of the current provincial boundaries are discussed. New boundaries, based on the intramax analysis of the journey-to-work data are proposed for four or five new provinces. Results compare favourably with those from a principal component and cluster analysis, which has previously been used to demarcate the South African space economy into a hierarchy of development regions.

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The Work and Lives of Street Waste Pickers in Pretoria—A Case Study of Recycling in South Africa’s Urban Informal Economy

Schenck

Blaauw

2011

Urban Forum

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High levels of unemployment are a permanent feature in the urban areas of many developing countries. South Africa is no exception in this regard. Poverty and hardship caused by unemployment force many participants in the labour market to venture into the urban informal economy in order to survive. The activities of the waste pickers fall within the urban informal economy. In spite of the fact that waste pickers are a common sight in the urban areas of Pretoria and other South African cities, remarkably little is known about them and scant attention is paid to them. The aim of the study was to establish a socio-economic profile of the street waste pickers in Pretoria and to describe the social interaction and relationship dynamics between the waste pickers and their families, each other, the community and buy-back centres. This was done by conducting the first ever empirical study of the street waste pickers in Pretoria. The results revealed that the role of street waste pickers in the broader waste management system is an important public issue that requires urgent attention and appropriate policy responses from policy makers.

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Day Labourers, Unemployment and Socio-economic Development in South Africa

Cited by 22 publications

References 13 publications

The subjective well-being of day labourers in South Africa: The role of income and geographical location

The subjective well-being of day labourers in South Africa: The role of income and geographical location

The identification of possible future provincial boundaries for South Africa based on an intramax analysis of journey-to-work data

The Work and Lives of Street Waste Pickers in Pretoria—A Case Study of Recycling in South Africa’s Urban Informal Economy

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