Before presenting the results of the qualitative data analysis, realized to find out about the functionings and capabilities of recyclers caused by formalization, the quantifiable data will be described to grant an overview of the characteristics of the sample and the control group.
A selection of quantifiable results is presented in Table 2 to enable a quick comparison of sample and control group.
6.1.1 Sample Group
The sample group40, which was examined concerning the well-being of individual formalized recyclers, taking income and utilization of health measures as points of comparison, consists of five persons identifying as male and five persons identifying as female. All ten interviewees stated that Barranco was the area, where they collected valuable waste primarily. However, not all recyclers indicated Barranco as their district of residence. While half of the entire group, meaning five recyclers, stated that they also lived in Barranco, three interviewees named Santiago de Surco, the neighboring district, as their home district and Chorillos and San Juan de Lurigancho41 were each indicated as districts of residence by one person.
Concerning demographics of the sample group, the average age of all interviewees is 53 years, while the youngest respondent stated to be 30 years old and the oldest group member was 66 years old. The education level of the sample group could be described as rather low, due to the fact that seven out of ten respondents did not finish ‘Secundaria’42. Four out of these seven persons completed the basic educational level of ‘Primaria’, while the remaining three respondents did not
40See Annex A 1 for all quantifiable details of the sample group.
41 San Juan de Lurigancho is located at about 30 km distance from Barranco. Travelling from one district to the other takes about one hour and a half by public transport.
42 The Peruvian educational system consists of four components which must be completed successively. From age 0 to 5, a Peruvian child may be educated at a preprimary stage, where education between age 3 to 5 is obligatory.
Institutions offering preprimary education are called ‘Inicial’. Children aged 6 to 11 visit the so-called ‘Primaria’, the second level of basic education, followed by the ‘Secundaria’ which provides education to adolescent pupils aged 12 to 16. Higher education is an optional choice and provided to students aged 17 and older. Until 1993, only basic education on the “Primaria” level was mandatory (International Bureau of Education, 2010).
complete ‘Primaria’. In total, three respondents completed ‘Secundaria’, the second level of basic education, out of which one counts with a university degree (Table 2).
The average household of a sample group interviewee consists of 4.7 persons, where the smallest household is formed by one person and the biggest one counts with nine residents. Most persons living in a household with a formalized recycler are 18-60 years old, followed by children aged 5-18.
On average, 0.9 persons in the sample group households are aged 60 years and older, while on child under 5 years and one pregnant woman are singular instances in two households. Only in one household, more than one person is working as a recycler and in this household both persons participate in the formalization program.
With regard to health insurances of the sample group members, it can be said that the majority, namely seven persons, are inscribed in SIS, while two respondents indicated that they do not have any health insurance and one participant counts with EsSalud43.
6.1.2 Control Group
The control group44, consisting of ten informal recyclers who were interviewed while collecting waste in the streets of Barranco, comprises eight persons identifying as male and two persons identifying as female. All interviewees of the control group indicated that their main area of waste collection was Barranco, while only two respondents stated that they were living in Barranco, too.
Three respondents said that they were living in the neighbor district Santiago de Surco, one person stated that San Juan de Lurigancho was his home district and four respondents did not give an answer when asked about their district of residence.
On average, members of the control group are 52.1 years old, while the youngest informal recycler, interviewed in the context of the case study is 26 years old and the oldest interviewee is 76 years old. As for the educational level of the control group, a similar picture as for the sample group may be described: four out of ten interviewees did not complete ‘Primaria’, three respondents managed to do so but only one person completed the basic education at the ‘Secundaria’ level. One respondent counts with university education and one person did not go to school in Peru at all (Table 2).
43 The Peruvian health system and the different possibilities to insure oneself are discussed in detail in chapter 4.2.
44 See Annex A 2 for all quantifiable characteristics of the control group.
An average household of an informal recycler who participated in the case study comprises 5.4 persons, while the smallest household size of the control group consists in one person and the biggest amount of people living together is ten individuals. The most people sharing a household with an informal recycler are aged between 18 and 60, followed by elderly persons who are older than 60 years. Only in three households of the control group, children younger than 5 years share the respective home and only one child aged between 5 and 18 lives with an interviewee. Two respondents indicated that other members of their households were working as recyclers, too. Out of the ten interviewees that belong to the control group of informal recyclers, four counted with SIS, the health insurance provided by the state, two were covered by EsSalud and four recyclers did not have any insurance. Moreover, two participants had heard about the formalization program of the municipality but had never participated.
Against the backdrop of these quantifiable characteristics of both interview groups, the results of the qualitative content analysis regarding the frame conditions, asset portfolios, conversion factors and valued capabilities and functionings of recyclers will be described in the following chapter.
Age
Table 2: Selected Quantifiable Characteristics of Interviewed Recyclers. Source: Own Illustration.
6.2 Qualitative Outcomes: Valued Functionings and Capabilities of Formalized Recyclers in
The general concern of the research project was to work out the impact of the
formalization program in Barranco on the individual well-being of recyclers45. As was argued in chapter 3.4.7, achieved functionings of individual recyclers and the capabilities which may be derived from them provide valuable information about their well-being. Therefore, the respective functionings and capabilities, indicated by formalized recyclers during the interviews carried out in June and July 2017, will be presented in this chapter, referring to research question 1.1.
Functionings and capabilities named by control group members, hence informal recyclers working in Barranco, will be addressed at the end of the chapter to grant a point of comparison.
The categories, developed as part of qualitative data analysis according to Mayring (2015), will serve as the basis upon which results will be depicted. Since a special emphasis was put on the livelihood assets of income and health measures in the context of this thesis, functionings and capabilities were either associated with the latter livelihood assets or classified as ‘Other’. Most capabilities were directly deduced from the stated functionings of recyclers, which is why deduced capabilities will not be described in detail. Table 3 comprises of all functionings and derived capabilities that were named by individual recyclers during the sample group interviews and sorted into main and subcategories as part of qualitative data analysis. Furthermore, this chapter will deal with hypothetical capabilities which could result from a change in the recyclers’ livelihood
portfolios, pointed out by interviewees directly46.
45 This impact will be discussed in detail in chapter 7.
46 See chapter 5.1.3.1 for a detailed description of the interview guidelines used as part of the case study.
1. What is the impact of the formalization program