Social safety and social security: validating context-specific instruments for Slums

Abstract

Social safety and social security are concepts that help explain a community's well-being by assessing how it manages and mitigate existing, or perceived, risks. However, these terms are often conflated, which can limit understanding, particularly in areas with unstable living conditions. This study explores both concepts in the context of residents living in slums. As the number of displaced people grows, slums and informal settlements are becoming increasingly common worldwide, making it essential to clarify these concepts. Residents of slums face numerous hazards, including crime, violence, inadequate housing, overcrowding, and limited access to essential services. To measure social safety and social security, we developed two survey instruments. These were administered in Khayelitsha Site C, a post-apartheid township in Cape Town that includes both formal and informal settlements. We analyzed data from 514 participants using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, which confirmed the multidimensional nature of both concepts. The social safety instrument was refined to include ten items focused on perceptions of environmental risk, crime, and infrastructure, achieving a reliability score of (Ω = 0.90). The social security instrument, refined to eleven items, addresses environmental prevention, community leadership support, crime prevention, and health protection, with a reliability score of (Ω = 0.80). Both instruments demonstrated strong statistical validity through internal consistency, as well as evidence of convergent and discriminant validity. This research provides new, reliable tools for examining the challenges of social safety and social security in slums, offering actionable insights for policymakers and community development efforts.