The relationship between association membership and access to formal social protection

Abstract

Using survey data of informal workers across three different sectors (construction, transport, trade) and four urban locations in Kenya and Tanzania, this chapter provides a quantitative assessment of the extent to which informal worker associations facilitate access to formal social protection measures. Overall, the analysis shows that association members are significantly more likely to access public social insurance schemes, when controlling for key worker characteristics. Moreover, across sectors and sites, the provision of loans appears to be the main direct mechanism through which this occurs. Finally, the results reveal a substantial earnings-gap between association members and non-members, albeit with differences by sector and country. In sum, the findings suggest that aside from providing direct social cushioning, informal worker associations may also play an important role in enabling participation in formal social insurance schemes.