Impact of New Normal towards Informal Workers in Chonburi’s Urban Area

Abstract

The purposes of this research were 1) to study the impacts of the New Normal on informal workers in Chonburi’s urban areas, and 2) to compare the impacts of New Normal on informal workers in Chonburi’s urban area categorized by socio-economic status including gender, marital status, income, and age. This study was quantitative research using questionnaires and multi-stage sampling method as tools for data collection. The samples were 479 informal workers living in four Chonburi’s urban areas: Muang Chonburi, Saensuk City, Lam Chabang City, and Pattaya City. The statistics used in the research were frequency distribution, mean, percentage, t-test, F-test and Simple Regression Analysis.

The results revealed that 1) the impacts of the New Normal on informal workers in Chonburi’s urban areas, as a whole—under the four studied aspects, was said to be ‘always’ affected by New Normal. Regarding family, society, and culture, it found that the workers were ‘always’ affected, while regarding economy, the study showed that the workers were ‘sometimes’ affected. 2) The comparison of the impacts of New Normal on informal workers categorized by socio-economic status revealed that 1) female workers were more affected by the impacts of New Normal than male in social and cultural aspects statistically significant at the level of 0.05. The study 2) on marital status showed that it was affected by New Normal in family statistically significant at the level of 0.05; 3) on income, it was affected by New Normal in economy and society statistically significant at the level of 0.05; 4) on age, it was also affected by New Normal in economy and society statistically significant at the level of 0.05.