The Impact of Social Capital on Household Well-being in Pakistan

The main purpose is to check the impact of social capital on households’ objective well-being in the context of a developing country like Pakistan. The primary data is collected from 250 households of eight towns in district Faisalabad, the third-largest most populous city of Pakistan. Ordered probit models are used for analysis. The results show that objective well-being is positively and significantly affected by social capital except for social participation and neighborhood cohesion. For subjective well-being, life satisfaction and well-being are positively and significantly associated with all dimensions of social capital except the perception of trust and safety, and education. In the case of self-perceived health, civic participation, voting behavior, and collecting actions (CVC), reciprocity and social support are insignificant. Our results may help in devising social policies related to improvement in life quality and well-being of people. It gives insight into the role of social capital for the reduction of poverty, ameliorating individuals' health status and the well-being of the people. It is suggested that society's well-being may be achieved with higher social capital. The government may devise strategies to increase social capital for improving the well-being of the targeted society.