Life satisfaction: A comparative study between informal and formal workers

Abstract

The life satisfaction of workers is measured by objective and subjective indicators, the latter not
always considered by the governments of the countries. The objectives of this research were to
analyze the relationship between the perception of having money, free time, health and a peaceful
old age with the life satisfaction of informal and formal workers; and to compare the perception of
the aforementioned variables, according to the type of worker (informal and formal). The
methodological approach was correlational-exploratory, with surveys of 200 workers. The variables
correlated as expected for the total sample, that is, positively and significantly between money, free
time, health and old age with life satisfaction. When correlations are made by type of workers, the
results are different. Through the application of Student's t test, no significant differences were
found between the two types of workers, as expected by the political and economic area of Chile,
believing that a formal worker and with objective welfare conditions, could present greater
satisfaction with life, even in one item of the scale, informal workers have a higher perception.
These results contribute to the science of subjective wellbeing and reaffirm its postulates on this
side of the world.