OCCUPATIONAL WELL-BEING OF STREET TRADERS: THE LEAST MEASURED AND NEGLECTED GLOBAL MAJORITY WORKERS

The study is conceptual, looking at the existing gap in determining the occupational well-being of workers in the formal and informal economy. Determining occupational well-being is important for workers, be workers in the formal or informal economy. Work engagement is one of the constructs used to determine occupational well-being. The UWES is one of the few valid and most used instrument in assessing work engagement of workers in organisations, including those in informal employment in the formal economy. The formal economy is unable to create decent jobs for everyone, where others end-up working in the informal economy. Street traders are the most visible workers in the informal economy. The informal economy is the largest employer, with more 60 percent of the global labour force, yet occupational well-being of these workers is least studied. This is odd, as occupational well-being addresses how workers feel about their lives at work both in formal and informal economy. The study recommends that to realise the aspirations of the principles of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), namely SDG#3 and SDG#8, which seek to promote good health and decent work for all, occupational well-being studies be commissioned on workers in both formal and informal economy.