Estimating the benefits of linking ties in a deeply divided society: considering the relationship between domestic workers and their employers in South Africa

Ronelle Burger (), Marisa Coetzee () and Carina van der Watt ()
Additional contact information
Marisa Coetzee: Departement Ekonomie, Universiteit van Stellenbosch
Carina van der Watt: Departement Ekonomie, Universiteit van Stellenbosch
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Marisa von Fintel ()

No 18/2013, Working Papers from Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics

Abstract: In South Africa social exclusion remains a problem due to the multiple and overlapping divisions in post-apartheid society and the lack of linking ties bridging the worlds of those who have plenty and those without. To quantify the potential benefit of such linking ties for socio-economic mobility, we examine the relationship between domestic workers and their employers – a case where we find frequent, proximate and intimate contact between individuals from these two different worlds. We construct a well matched comparison group for domestic workers via propensity score matching using a pooled version of seven General Household Surveys. The households of domestic workers appear to have lower unemployment duration and better quality jobs, a higher likelihood of owning assets and a lower prevalence of child and adult hunger. These differences provide evidence that the linking ties of domestic workers with their more affluent employers increase well-being in a way that is consistent with social network theory.

Keywords: Social capital; social networks; domestic workers; inequality; South Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D63 Z10 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr and nep-soc
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.ekon.sun.ac.za/wpapers/2013/wp182013/wp-18-2013.pdf First version, 2013 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers194

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers from Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Melt van Schoor ().