Workplace well-being in post-apartheid South Africa is shaped by intersecting social determinants rather than isolated demographic factors, with gender and income significantly predicting mental health outcomes, while qualitative findings reveal structural mechanisms including gendered caregiving burdens and kin-based financial obligations ('Black tax') that mediate these effects.
Key Findings
Results
Gender significantly predicted mental well-being, with women reporting lower scores than men.
Gender's effect on mental well-being was statistically significant at p = 0.015.
Mental well-being was measured using the WEMWBS (Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale).
The quantitative survey included n = 87 participants assessed across demographic groups including gender, race, generation, income, and education.
Non-parametric tests were used for analysis given sample characteristics.
Results
Income significantly predicted mental well-being, life satisfaction, and perceived stress, with higher-income employees reporting better outcomes across all three domains.
Income's effect on mental well-being was significant at p = 0.033.
Income's effect on life satisfaction was significant at p = 0.011.
Income's effect on perceived stress was significant at p < 0.001, the strongest statistical association found in the study.
Life satisfaction was measured using the SWLS (Satisfaction with Life Scale) and perceived stress with the PSS-4.
Results
Race and generation showed no significant main effects on workplace well-being outcomes.
Neither race nor generation produced statistically significant main effects in quantitative analyses.
The authors note that race operated through intersectional mechanisms rather than as a uniform main effect, a pattern explained through qualitative findings.
Intersectionality was explored primarily through qualitative inquiry and mixed-methods integration rather than quantitative interaction modelling, given sample size constraints.
Results
Gendered unpaid labour and caregiving strain reduced women's mental well-being, particularly among Black and Mixed ancestry women at specific intersections.
This mechanism was identified through qualitative data comprising one focus group discussion (n = 9) and semi-structured interviews (n = 10).
Qualitative data explored lived experiences of workplace well-being, stress, and engagement.
This was identified as one of four key mechanisms explaining quantitative patterns.
The effect was described as particularly pronounced at specific intersections of race and gender identity.
Results
'Black tax' — kin-based financial obligations common in South African Black communities — appeared to constrain income's protective effects on well-being, sustaining financial strain despite salary parity.
Black tax was identified qualitatively as a mechanism by which structural inequality persists even when individuals achieve higher income levels.
The finding challenges the assumption that economic resources operate uniformly in structurally unequal settings.
This was identified as one of four qualitative mechanisms explaining survey patterns.
The authors conclude that income's protective effects are 'socially mediated' in this context.
Results
Restrictive masculine norms constrained men's emotional expression and help-seeking, potentially masking distress in survey measures.
This mechanism was identified through qualitative inquiry as one of four explanatory themes.
The authors suggest this dynamic may explain why men reported higher mental well-being scores on the WEMWBS despite potential underlying distress.
This finding was integrated with quantitative gender findings using the Intersectional Social Determinants Model.
The mechanism points to a methodological limitation of self-report surveys in capturing men's mental health in contexts with strong masculine norms.
Methods
An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was employed, integrating quantitative survey data with qualitative focus group and interview data using an Intersectional Social Determinants Model.
Quantitative survey sample was n = 87; focus group n = 9; semi-structured interviews n = 10.
Measures included WEMWBS (mental well-being), PSS-4 (perceived stress), UWES-3 (work engagement), SWLS (life satisfaction), and a flourishing measure.
Qualitative data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.
Integration of data streams was guided by an Intersectional Social Determinants Model.
Quantitative intersectional interaction modelling was not conducted due to sample size constraints.
Conclusions
The study proposes that culturally responsive, equity-oriented workplace interventions must address structural caregiving burdens, kin obligations, and masculine norm constraints while redistributing workplace demands and resources.
Recommendations are derived from the integration of quantitative disparities with four qualitatively identified mechanisms.
The Intersectional Social Determinants Model is offered as an organising framework for future inquiry in similar contexts.
The authors argue that standard economic or demographic interventions are insufficient without addressing the socially mediated nature of financial and gender effects.
The study situates its findings within a post-apartheid South African organisational context.
What This Means
This research suggests that workplace mental health in South Africa is not simply a matter of individual factors like income or gender in isolation, but is shaped by how these factors interact with deep structural inequalities rooted in the country's history. In a survey of 87 employees, women reported worse mental well-being than men, and lower-income workers reported worse well-being, lower life satisfaction, and higher stress than higher-income workers. However, follow-up focus groups and interviews revealed that these numbers alone do not tell the full story.
The qualitative portion of the study uncovered four key mechanisms. First, women — especially Black and Mixed ancestry women — carried disproportionate unpaid caregiving and household responsibilities that drained their mental well-being. Second, a phenomenon called 'Black tax' — the expectation that employed Black South Africans financially support extended family members — meant that even workers with higher salaries did not necessarily experience the full mental health benefit of that income, because a significant portion was redistributed to kin. Third, cultural norms around masculinity appeared to discourage men from acknowledging or reporting stress, meaning that men's survey scores may have underrepresented their actual distress. Fourth, race did not show a straightforward statistical effect on its own, but rather worked through these intersecting mechanisms.
This research suggests that workplace wellness programs in South Africa and similar post-colonial contexts need to go beyond standard approaches like stress management workshops or employee assistance programs. Addressing mental health equity requires recognising structural burdens such as unpaid caregiving, kin financial obligations, and cultural norms that shape how people experience and report distress. The finding that income's benefits are 'socially mediated' — meaning higher pay does not automatically translate to better well-being when structural obligations constrain those resources — has practical implications for how organisations and policymakers think about economic interventions for worker health.
Shekhar A, Saurombe M. (2026). Advancing workplace mental health equity in post-apartheid South Africa: an intersectional mixed-methods study.. Frontiers in public health. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1794110