| Summary: | This paper explores the relationship between informal employment and the subjective well-being of informal employees and self-employed workers in Mexico. The main hypothesis is that labor informality has a significantly negative impact on the level of self-reported life satisfaction and happiness of individuals. This effect is sustained even when controlling for potentially determinant socio-demographic factors, in particular income. The module of self-reported well-being (BIARE) that was part of the National Household Spending Survey (ENGASTO), conducted by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) during the first quarter of 2012 was used for this research. The module gathered, for the first time in Mexico, official statistics on life satisfaction and happiness. The results of the investigation show that informal employment is by itself a factor comparable to income in its influence on the perceived well-being of individuals.
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