Day labor, informality and vulnerability in South Africa and the United States

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to compare conditions in informal day-labor markets in South Africa and the USA to better understand the nature of worker vulnerabilities in this market, as well as the economic conditions that have contributed to the growth of day labor. The conclusion considers interventions that are underway in the two countries to improve conditions in day-labor markets. Design/methodology/approach -The paper is based on national surveys of day laborers in South Africa and the USA. A random sample of day laborers seeking work at informal hiring sites was undertaken in each country. The paper presents key findings, compares conditions in South Africa and the USA, and analyzes the relationship between economic change, labor-market dynamics, and worker vulnerability. Findings -Day-labor work is characterized by low pay, hazardous conditions on the job, and tremendous income insecurity. The day-labor markets in South Africa and the USA perform somewhat different functions within regional economies. Within South Africa, day labor can be regarded as a survival strategy. The growth of day labor in South Africa over the past decade is a manifestation of a formal labor market that is incapable of absorbing the structurally unemployed. Here, day labor is the employment of last resort, allowing workers to subsist on the fringes of the mainstream economy, but offering few pathways into the formal sector. In the USA, the day labor workforce is a largely undocumented-immigrant workforce. Workers seek work at informal hiring sites, maintaining a tenuous hold on jobs in the construction industry. There is evidence of some mobility into more stable and better paying employment. Practical implications -This paper documents the need for policies and programs to increase employment opportunities for day laborers and to better enforce labor standards in the informal economy. Originality/value -This paper summarizes findings from the only two national surveys of day laborers that have been conducted, and it compares for the first time the dynamic within growing day-labor markets in a developed-and emerging-market context.

The Socioeconomic Incorporation of Immigrant and Native‐born Day Labourers in Tshwane, South Africa

“…Once they become informally employed, day labourers work “off the books” for employers engaged in the mainstream economy. Like others in the informal economy, they typically are paid in cash, are subject to violations of labour standards, have little or no access to government employment security programmes, and endure systemic instability in their employment arrangements (Theodore et al., ; Pretorius and Blaauw, ). With low and uncertain earnings and few alternatives outside of waged‐work, the reservation wages (the lowest wage level at which a jobseeker is prepared to accept employment) of day labourers tend to fall, driven down by the day‐to‐day realities of subsistence on the margins of the mainstream economy.…”

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

“…As is the case in many other parts of the world, day labouring is on the increase in South Africa (Theodore et al 2015). In countries like the United States, it is mostly immigrants (almost exclusively from Latin America) who use day labouring as a means of gaining a foothold in the economy (Valenzuela et al 2006).…”

“…This would have important implications for the power relations within the competitive day labour market. Given the persistent depressed economic conditions in these provinces, day labourers had virtually no power to negotiate wages with prospective employers (Theodore et al 2015). Theory would suggest that these factors have an undeniably negative influence on the subjective well-being of day labourers in South Africa (Sen 1999(Sen , 2003.…”

“…Day labourers are among the most marginalised and vulnerable groups in the South African informal economy (Theodore et al 2015). 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).…”

“…In South Africa, however, day labouring is the last resort for many who have lost their jobs or have been unable to secure employment in the formal economy. Immigrants from the rest of Southern Africa compete with South African day labourers for the available casual employment on offer (Theodore et al 2015).…”