Investigating the relationship between income and subjective well-being in South Africa.
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Date
2013
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Abstract
Conventional approaches to the analysis of human well-being use money-metric
measures such as income or consumption. However, they are heavily criticised for
relying on a limited understanding of well-being. In recent decades, subjective
measures of well-being have been increasingly presented as providing a more
inclusive and holistic perspective of well-being. Using data from the National Income
Dynamics Study (NIDS), this dissertation examines the relationship between income,
a common money-metric measure of well-being, and life satisfaction, a key indicator
of subjective well-being. The results show that income and life satisfaction exhibit a
weak but significant positive relationship, one which is stronger at lower levels of
income. In addition to income, the analysis identifies a number of other significant
correlates of subjective well-being. Furthermore, several differences in the correlates
of income and life satisfaction are detected. These results highlight how subjective
well-being measures can include information about people’s lived experiences in
ways that are not fully captured in objective money-metric measures.
Description
M.Dev.Studies University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2013.
Keywords
Well-being--Economic aspects--South Africa., Income--South Africa., Well-being--South Africa., Theses--Development studies.