Poverty in South Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 156-174
Author(s):  
Vusi Gumede

The chapter examines poverty in the post-apartheid dispensation (in South Africa), taking into account the various studies that have been undertaken regarding poverty since 1994. Because the South African statistical agency—Statistics South Africa—has not collected poverty data since 2015, the chapter uses the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) dataset to estimate poverty for the 2008–17 period while analysing existing data and estimates prior to 2017. An attempt to cover the period after 2017 is done using the NIDS-Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM) which is the mobile survey that was undertaken using the NIDS respondents to gauge the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The analysis focuses on income poverty although other measures such as the multidimensional poverty index are also estimated and analysed. Relative to expenditure, the income approach in measuring poverty provides descriptive information on household welfare and it is useful for policy analysis and programme evaluation as the literature explains. The chapter concludes that although it appears that income poverty has been declining, it remains very high and it is higher for women, for those living in rural areas, and for the African/black population group. In addition, the severity and intensity of poverty has not changed much since 1994.

2021 ◽  
pp. 097370302110329
Author(s):  
Vusi Gumede

There are many questions related to poverty in South Africa that remain unsatisfactorily answered. Given the poor performance of the South African economy, including declining per capita incomes and increasing unemployment, since 2010 or so, it is important to examine poverty dynamics in the recent years. Many recent studies in this regard have relied on 2015 data, and do not examine all the three interrelated aspects of wellbeing viz. poverty, human development and inequality. In this context, this paper uses all the five waves of the National Income Dynamics Study and employs different poverty and inequality measurement techniques to investigate poverty dynamics, human development and inequality during the post-apartheid period in South Africa. The estimates suggest that although poverty was declining prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the African/Black population group is the most affected by poverty. The phenomenon of feminisation of poverty is also verified based on the evidence of increasingly more women in poverty than men. The proportion of population experiencing multiple deprivations, measured by the Multidimensional Poverty Index, have not changed in the post-apartheid period. Similarly, human development has not improved during this period. South African society continues to be one of the most unequal societies in the world. The paper argues that the inability to sufficiently reduce poverty, unemployment and inequality results from the weak performance of the South African economy. In the same vein, it is the structure of the South African economy that has kept the levels of human development low and income inequality high.


2021 ◽  
pp. 151-168
Author(s):  
T. ZWANE

Savings have been described as a significant fi nancial and economic matter and represent an essential driving force of economic growth and development. Despite this, many studies investigating the determinants of savings in South Africa have looked predominantly at the drivers of savings only at a national level, without focusing on urban and rural differences. This is critical as these localities are structurally different, with different characteristics. It is, therefore, likely that the determinants of savings in these unique geographical localities would differ, given the negative impact of past policies of marginalisation. The purpose of this paper is to examine the urban-rural disparities in savings for South African households. We used data sourced from the five waves of the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) observed from 2008-2017. The novelty of this study is in its application of a novel two-stage least square estimation technique which addresses possible endogeneity problems which might have plagued previous studies in this field. It was concluded from the research that the determinants of savings are different across samples (urban and rural). We found that having access to land is an important predictor of savings in rural areas where the poor live (positive and significant), but the coefficient is not significant in the urban sample. Although there was a positive correlation between income and savings across samples, but the income impact on savings is higher in absolute values for households residing in rural areas, compared to household living in urban areas. We also found that, despite the coefficient of employment being similar in the direction of the impact (positive and significant) across the samples, the magnitude of the coefficient was stronger in the rural sample. Based on the higher magnitude of the coefficient, we found that household size has more effect in urban than rural areas. The study recommends that government should design and implement policies that foster job creation, even low-skilled jobs, which will generate more income and reduce unemployment.


2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Lemus

AbstractColombia is a country with both high incidence of poverty and an ongoing civil conflict. This study uses measures of government deterrence and anti-narcotic activity as instruments of conflict-specific variables to estimate the impact of conflict on poverty in Colombia. Using census-level data at the municipality level for 2005, I assess the effect of conflict on both the urban and rural incidence of the newly developed Multidimensional Poverty Index. The findings show that the incidence of conflict significantly increases rural, but not urban, poverty. This is consistent with the fact that most of the conflict in Colombia takes place in rural areas. I also explore the lagged effect of conflict on poverty to conclude that it lasts for at least 3 years, but decreases over time. Finally, I show that the results are robust to a battery of additional specifications, including the use of alternative conflict data and a modified version of the dependent variable.


2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodney Graeme Duffett

Purpose This paper aims to examine the influence of interactive social media marketing communications on teenagers’ cognitive, affective and behavioral attitude components in South Africa. The study also considers the impact of a number of additional factors such as usage (access, length of usage, log-on frequency, log-on duration and profile update incidence) and demographic (gender, age and population group) variables on young consumers’ attitudes toward social media marketing communications. Design/methodology/approach A survey was used via three self-administered questionnaires, which were distributed to over 13,000 learners in the age range of 13-18 years (Generation Z cohort) at colleges and high schools in South Africa. A generalized linear model was used for statistical data analysis. Findings The study ascertained that social media marketing communications had a positive on each attitude component among adolescents, but on a declining scale, which correlates to the purchase funnel. The results also revealed that teenagers who used social media for long time periods; updated their profiles frequently and were from the Colored and Black population groups, displayed the most favorable attitudinal responses to social media marketing communications. Research limitations/implications Social media was collectively analyzed and did not consider the number of different social media types, which could be examined individually. This investigation only considered the Generation Z cohort, but other cohorts to attitudes toward social media marketing communications could also be assessed. Practical implications Companies and their brands should consider using and/or adapting their strategies based on the declining impact of social media marketing communications on the hierarchical attitude stages among young consumers and the divergent influence on usage and demographic variables when targeting the lucrative and technologically advanced, but capricious, Generation Z consumers. Originality/value This research established that social media marketing communications had a favorable influence on cognitive, affective and behavioral attitude components among young consumers, but on a declining scale, which is in congruence with the purchase funnel model. This investigation also makes an important contribution to attitudinal research in developing countries, where there is a lack of research in social media marketing communications.


Author(s):  
Surya Narayan Biswal ◽  
◽  
S. K. Mishra ◽  
M. K. Sarangi ◽  
◽  
...  

UNDP’s 2030 agenda of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) emphasized gender equality in augmenting human capital and alleviating poverty. For eradication of extreme poverty and building resilience for persons who are vulnerable to poverty, SDGs calls for a pro-poor and gender-sensitive policy framework. In this context, a gender-based study on multi-dimensional aspects of poverty is highly significant. Extant literature reveals that females are more deprived in different dimensions of poverty such as education, health, living standard, empowerment, environment, autonomy and social relationship. The present study is conducted with the basic objective of examining feminization of poverty in rural areas of Jagatsinghapur district of Odisha. Seven socio-economic dimensions comprising sixteen indicators have been taken into consideration to construct the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) using the Alkire-Foster (AF) Method at the individual level. The novelty of the study lies in analyzing MPI at the individual level for rural Odisha. Higher female deprivation is observed across social groups and all occupation categories except services. Dummy variable regression analysis also supports the major findings of the study. Complementary Cumulative Distribution Function satisfies strict first-order stochastic dominance condition and substantiates the feminisation of poverty at each level of poverty cut-off across all social groups and occupational categories except for services. The findings of the study have significant implications for developing suitable policies for gender equalization and poverty alleviation.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Marcela Ballesteros ◽  
José Moreno-Montoya ◽  
Wilhelmus Johannes Andreas Grooten ◽  
Pedro Barrera-López ◽  
José A. De la Hoz-Valle

Abstract BackgroundMultimorbidity prevalence in the elderly is increasing worldwide. Variations regarding the socioeconomic characteristics of the individuals and their context have been described, mostly in high-income scenarios. This study aims to assess the magnitude and the socioeconomic factors associated with variations on multimorbidity in Colombia.MethodsA cross-sectional multilevel study with a nationally representative sample of 23 694 Colombian adults aged 60 years and older was conducted. Individual socioeconomic, demographic, childhood and health related characteristics, as well as group level variables (multidimensional poverty index and infectious diseases mortality rate) were analyzed. A two-level stepwise structural equation model was used to simultaneously adjust the individual and contextual effects. ResultsMultimorbidity prevalence was 62.3% (95% CI 61.7–62.9). In the multilevel adjusted models, age, female sex, having functional limitations, non-white ethnicity, high body mass index, higher income, physical inactivity, poverty during childhood and living in urban areas were associated with multimorbidity. The mediation analysis showed that living in rural areas was significantly associated with infectious disease mortality rate and other individual associations with multimorbidity were mediated by the multidimensional poverty variable. ConclusionsThis paper demonstrates a strong association between multimorbidity and poverty in a low-middle income country. Differences in the factors involved in the etiology of multimorbidity are expected among wealthy and poor countries regarding availability and prioritization of health services.


Author(s):  
Phillip D. Stevenson ◽  
Christopher A. Mattson ◽  
Kenneth M. Bryden ◽  
Nordica A. MacCarty

More than ever before, engineers are creating products for developing countries. One of the purposes of these products is to improve the consumer’s quality of life. Currently, there is no established method of measuring the social impact of these types of products. As a result, engineers have used their own metrics to assess their product’s impact, if at all. Some of the common metrics used include products sold and revenue, which measure the financial success of a product without recognizing the social successes or failures it might have. In this paper we introduce a potential metric, the Product Impact Metric (PIM), which quantifies the impact a product has on impoverished individuals — especially those living in developing countries. It measures social impact broadly in five dimensions: health, education, standard of living, employment quality, and security. The PIM is inspired by the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) created by the United Nations Development Programme. The MPI measures how the depth of poverty within a nation changes year after year, and the PIM measures how an individual’s quality of life changes after being affected by an engineered product. The Product Impact Metric can be used to predict social impacts (using personas that represent real individuals) or measure social impacts (using specific data from products introduced into the market).


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lactatia Matsie Motsuku ◽  
Wenlong Carl Chen ◽  
Mazvita Molleen Muchengeti ◽  
Tamlyn Mac Quene ◽  
Patricia Kellett ◽  
...  

Abstract BackgroundSouth Africa (SA) has experienced a rapid transition in the Human Development Index (HDI) over the past decade, which had an effect on the incidence and mortality rates of colorectal cancer (CRC). This study aims to provide CRC incidence and mortality trends by population group and sex in SA from 2002 to 2014.MethodsIncidence data were extracted from the South African National Cancer Registry and mortality data obtained from Statistics South Africa (STATS SA), for the period 2002 to 2014. Age-standardised incidence rates (ASIR) and age-standardised mortality rates (ASMR) were calculated using the STATS SA mid-year population as the denominator and the Segi world standard population data for standardisation. A Joinpoint regression analysis was computed for the CRC ASIR and ASMR by population group and sex.ResultsA total of 33,232 incident CRC cases and 26,836 CRC deaths were reported during the study period. Of the CRC cases reported, 54% were males and 46% were females, and among deaths reported, 47% were males and 53% were females. Overall, there was a 2.5% annual average percentage change (AAPC) increase in ASIR from 2002 to 2014 (95% CI: 0.6- 4.5, p-value <0.001). For ASMR overall, there was 1.3% increase from 2002 to 2014 (95% CI: 0.1- 2.6, p-value <0.001). The ASIR and ASMR among population groups were stable, with the exception of the Black population group. The ASIR increased consistently at 4.3% for black males (95% CI: 1.9- 6.7, p-value <0.001) and 3.4% for black females (95% CI: 1.5- 5.3, p-value <0.001) from 2002 to 2014, respectively. Similarly, ASMR for black males and females increased by 4.2% (95% CI: 2.0- 6.5, p-value <0.001) and 3.4% (, 95%CI: 2.0- 4.8, p-value <0.01) from 2002 to 2014, respectively.ConclusionsThe disparities in the CRC incidence and mortality trends may reflect socioeconomic inequalities across different population groups in SA. The rapid increase in CRC trends among the Black population group is concerning and requires further investigation and increased efforts for cancer prevention, early screening and diagnosis, as well as better access to cancer treatment.


2020 ◽  
pp. 26
Author(s):  
Hosnieh Mahoozi ◽  
Jeurgen Meckl

Concerning the demands of Sen’s (1984) Capability Approach to the assessment of human well-being, we estimate multidimensional poverty and compare the results with traditional measures of income poverty in Iran. We detect poverty in urban and rural Iran over 1999-2007, a period with relatively high GDP growth. The results reveal that the pace of income poverty reduction is much faster than the pace of multidimensional poverty alleviation. The pace of poverty reduction is much slower in rural areas than in urban areas and the capital city, Tehran. Hence, inequality between rural and urban areas increased over the time. We also show how policymakers may benefit from applying the multidimensional approach in targeting the subgroups by the most deprived aspects.


2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Depken ◽  
Chanda Chiseni ◽  
Ernest Ita

Abstract We utilize two waves of the National Income Dynamics Study in South Africa to estimate the returns to education in 2010 and 2012. We find that during this time period the returns to education were approximately 18% per year of education and that the returns were higher for females relative to males and higher for those living in urban relative to rural areas. The policy implications include a suggestion to continue investment in educational infrastructure, especially in rural areas, so as to increase the returns to education in those areas.


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