1,721,074 research outputs found
Determinants of Income Mobility and Household Poverty Dynamics in South Africa
No full textThis article analyses household income mobility among Africans in South Africa's most populous province, KwaZulu-Natal, between 1993 and 1998. Compared to industrialised and most developing countries, mobility has been quite high, as might have been expected after the transition in South Africa. This finding is robust when measurement error is controlled for. When disaggregating the sources of mobility, it is found that demographic changes and employment changes account for most of the mobility observed which is related to rapidly shifting household boundaries and a very volatile labour market in an environment of high unemployment. Using a multivariate analysis, it can be seen that transitory incomes play a large role. Four types of poverty traps are found, associated with large initial household size, poor initial education, poor initial asset endowment and poor initial employment access that dominate the otherwise observed regression towards the mean
Income Mobility and Household Dynamics in South Africa
No full textn this paper we study and analyse household income mobility dynamics among Africans in South Africa’s most populous province between 1993 and 1998. Compared to industrialized and most developing countries, mobility has been quite high, as one would have expected after the transition in South Africa. This finding is also robust to various ways to control for measurement error. When disaggregating the sources of mobility, we find that demographic changes and employment changes account for a most of the mobility observed which is related to rapidly shifting household boundaries and a very volatile labour market in an environment of high unemployment. In a multivariate analysis, we see that transitory incomes play a large role. We also find three types of poverty traps, associated with large initial household size, poor initial education, and poor initial employment access
Income Mobility and Household Dynamics in South Africa
No full textn this paper we study and analyse household income mobility dynamics among Africans in South Africa’s most populous province between 1993 and 1998. Compared to industrialized and most developing countries, mobility has been quite high, as one would have expected after the transition in South Africa. This finding is also robust to various ways to control for measurement error. When disaggregating the sources of mobility, we find that demographic changes and employment changes account for a most of the mobility observed which is related to rapidly shifting household boundaries and a very volatile labour market in an environment of high unemployment. In a multivariate analysis, we see that transitory incomes play a large role. We also find three types of poverty traps, associated with large initial household size, poor initial education, and poor initial employment access
Surviving Unemployment Without State Support: Unemployment and Household Formation in South Africa
No full textWhile in many African countries open unemployment is largely confined to urban areas and thus overall rates are quite low, in South Africa open unemployment rates hover around 30%, with rural unemployment rates being even higher than that. This is despite the near complete absence of an unemployment insurance system and little labour market regulation that applies to rural labour markets. This paper examines how unemployment can persist without access to unemployment compensation. Analysing household surveys from 1993, 1995, 1998, 2004 and 2006, we find that the household formation response of the unemployed is the critical way in which the unemployed assure access to resources. In particular, unemployment delays the setting up of an individual household by young persons, in some cases by decades. It also sometimes leads to the dissolution of existing households and a return of constituent members to parents and other relatives and friends. Access to state transfers (in particular, non-contributory old age pensions) plays an important role in this private safety net. Some unemployed do not benefit from this safety net, and the presence of unemployed members pulls many households supporting them into poverty. We also show that the household formation response draws some of the unemployed away from employment opportunities, and thus lowers their employment prospects
Income mobility and household dynamics in South Africa: the case of Africans in KwaZulu-Natal.
No full textIn this paper we study and analyse household income mobility dynamics among Africans in South Africa’s most populous province between 1993 and 1998. Compared to industrialized and most developing countries, mobility has been quite high, as one would have expected after the transition in South Africa. This finding is also robust to various ways to control for measurement error. When disaggregating the sources of mobility, we find that demographic changes and employment changes account for a most of the mobility observed which is related to rapidly shifting household boundaries and a very volatile labour market in an environment of high unemployment. In a multivariate analysis, we see that transitory incomes play a large role. We also find three types of poverty traps, associated with large initial household size, poor initial education, and poor initial employment access
The history and impact of social security in South Africa: experiences and lessons
No full textThis paper examines the history and impact of the rapidly expanding social protection system in South Africa. We document the dominance of cash transfer-based assistance programmes compared to social insurance. There is a clear racial pattern of social protection coverage, with Africans benefitting largely from social assistance and whites being disproportionately covered by social insurance. We also find that the expanded social assistance has a substantial impact on poverty and nutrition, with little evidence of adverse labour market effects. The programme appears to be affordable and, in the South African context, administratively feasible. We discuss potential economic and political incentive problems with the co-existence of social assistance and social insurance and, finally, the implications for the design of social protection programmes in other sub-Saharan African countries.Cette rédaction étudie l'histoire et l'impact du système de protection sociale qui est en expansion rapide en Afrique du Sud. Nous décrivons la prépondérance des programmes d'assistance de transfert d'argent comparé aux programmes d'assurance sociale. Il y a une tendance raciale nette de la couverture de la protection sociale dans laquelle les africains profitent en grand partie de l'assistance sociale et les blancs, de façon disproportionnée, sont couverts par l'assurance sociale. Nous trouvons aussi que ce système d'assistance sociale expansé a un impact important sur la pauvreté et la nutrition, et très peu de preuve des effets défavorables sur le marché du travail. Il semble que le programme est abordable et, dans le contexte sud-africain, viable administrativement. Nous examinons les problèmes potentiels des incitations politiques et économiques avec l'existence simultanée de l'assistance sociale et de l'assurance sociale. Et finalement, nous examinons les possibles conséquences de créer des programmes de protection sociale dans d'autres pays de l'Afrique subsaharienne
Surviving Unemployment without State Support: Unemployment and Household Formation in South Africa
Full text linkHigh unemployment in many OECD countries is often attributed, at least in part, to the generosity and long duration of unemployment compensation. It is therefore instructive to examine a country where high unemployment exists despite the near complete absence of an unemployment insurance system. In South Africa unemployment stood at 23% in 1997 and the unemployed have no unemployment insurance nor informal sector activities to fall back on. This paper examines how the unemployed are able to get access to resources without support from unemployment compensation. Analysing a household survey from 1995, we find that the household formation response of the unemployed is the critical way in which they assure access to resources. In particular, unemployment delays the setting up of an individual household of young people, in some cases by decades. It also leads to the dissolution of existing households and a return of constituent members to parents and other relatives and friends. Access to state transfers (in particular, non¡ contributory old age pensions) increases the likelihood of attracting unemployed persons to a household. Some unemployed do not benefit from this safety net, and the presence of unemployed members pulls many households supporting them into poverty. We also show that the household formation responses draw some unemployed away from employment opportunities and thus lowers their employment prospects. The paper discusses the implications of these findings for debates about unemployment and social policy in South Africa and in OECD countries
Levels, trends and consistency of employment and unemployment figures in South Africa
No full textThis article appraises the similarities and dissimilarities between the major sources of information on the South African labour force, ie the CSS Employment Series, the Standardised Employment Series and recent household surveys. It concludes that the generally bleak picture of very high unemployment rates presented in the household surveys is broadly accurate. Further, race, gender and location are major determinants of labour‐force participation and employment. Finally, the article highlights the lack of work experience among the unemployed
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