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New evidence on subjective well-being and the definition of unemployment in South Africa

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  • Neil Lloyd
  • Murray Leibbrandt

Abstract

Access to new nationally representative, individual-level panel data from South Africa has allowed for the revalidation of Kingdon and Knight's discussion on the definition of unemployment. This paper investigates subjective well-being as a measure of comparison between labour-market statuses. It finds that on the grounds of subjective well-being the non-searching unemployed (or 'discouraged') are significantly worse-off than the not economically active. Moreover, evidence suggests that, with regard to the relationship between life satisfaction and labour-market status, the non-searching unemployed consistently are the worst-off. This is especially true of both the young and senior non-searching unemployed; however, the findings are largely driven by the African subsample. This paper does not advocate for a change in the official definition of unemployment but does advocate for the inclusion and recognition of the non-searching unemployed in policy relating to labour and development in South Africa.

Suggested Citation

  • Neil Lloyd & Murray Leibbrandt, 2014. "New evidence on subjective well-being and the definition of unemployment in South Africa," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(1), pages 85-105, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:deveza:v:31:y:2014:i:1:p:85-105
    DOI: 10.1080/0376835X.2013.864513
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    1. repec:aer:wpaper:323 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Cwenga Mayekiso & Emeka Obioha, 2022. "Survey of anti-social related encounters of unemployment in Eastern Cape, South Africa," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 11(5), pages 335-343, July.
    3. Kim Engle & Cecil Mlatsheni, 2017. "The extent of churn in the South African youth labour market: Evidence from NIDS 2008-2015," SALDRU Working Papers 201, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    4. Byela Tibesigwa & Martine Visser & Brennan Hodkinson, 2016. "Effects of Objective and Subjective Income Comparisons on Subjective Wellbeing," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(1), pages 361-389, August.

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