scholarly journals ‘These are not luxuries, it is essential for access to life’: Disability related out-of-pocket costs as a driver of economic vulnerability in South Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill Hanass-Hancock ◽  
Siphumelele Nene ◽  
Nicola Deghaye ◽  
Simmi Pillay
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Support Needs ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Economic Vulnerability ◽  
Care And Support ◽  
Protection Mechanisms ◽  
Out Of Pocket Costs

Background: With the dawn of the new sustainable development goals, we face not only a world that has seen great successes in alleviating poverty but also a world that has left some groups, such as persons with disabilities, behind. Middle-income countries (MICs) are home to a growing number of persons with disabilities. As these countries strive to achieve the new goals, we have ample opportunity to include persons with disabilities in the emerging poverty alleviation strategies. However, a lack of data and research on the linkages between economic vulnerability and disability in MICs hampers our understanding of the factors increasing economic vulnerability in people with disabilities.Methods: This article aims to present data related to elements of this vulnerability in one MIC, South Africa. Focusing on out-of-pocket costs, it uses focus group discussions with 73 persons with disabilities and conventional content analysis to describe these costs.Results: A complex and nuanced picture of disability-driven costs evolved on three different areas: care and support for survival and safety, accessibility of services and participation in community. Costs varied depending on care and support needs, accessibility (physical and financial), availability, and knowledge of services and assistive devices.Conclusions: The development of poverty alleviation and social protection mechanisms in MICs like South Africa needs to better consider diverse disability-related care and support needs not only to improve access to services such as education and health (National Health Insurance schemes, accessible clinics) but also to increase the effect of disability-specific benefits and employment equity policies.

scholarly journals People with disabilities and income-related social protection measures in South Africa: Where is the gap?

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill Hanass-Hancock ◽  
Tamlyn C. McKenzie
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Household Survey ◽  
Severe Disabilities ◽  
Protection Measures ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Protection Mechanisms ◽  
Social Grants ◽  
Out Of Pocket Costs

Background: People with disabilities are at increased risk of poverty, particularly in low-and middle-income countries. However, recent evidence suggests that this association is more nuanced than previously anticipated and that we need better data to understand the opportunity and out-of-pocket costs that diverse groups of people with disabilities may experience.Objective: This paper discusses if disability is associated with opportunity cost and loss of income both on the individual and household level in South Africa, and if these costs differ depending on disability type and severity.Methods: For this purpose, the paper analyses General Household Survey 2011 data (people between 15 and 59) using descriptive statistics disaggregated via disability type and severity. The paper also assesses if social grants counteract these costs and reduce economic vulnerability.Results: The analysis of the data reveals that people with disabilities are affected by issues relating to multidimensional poverty such as lower educational attainment and fewer employment opportunities. In addition, households of people with disabilities (with the exception of milder visual problems) earn significantly less than households without people with disabilities, and this particularly applies to households with people with severe disabilities. This vulnerability also varies by disability type. The country’s social protection mechanisms, in terms of social grants, counteract economic vulnerability to some extent but do not consider the nuanced economic impact of diverse conditions nor the increased out-of-pocket costs related to disability.Conclusions: This calls for more equitable social protection mechanisms that include accessible services, livelihood programmes and disability benefits.

scholarly journals ‘People Consider Us Devils’: Exploring Patterns of Exclusion facing Adolescents with Disabilities in Ethiopia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Jones ◽  
Jennifer Muz ◽  
Workneh Yadete
Keyword(s):  
Urban Communities ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Bodily Integrity ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Development Goals

AbstractThe 2030 Sustainable Development Goals’ call to ‘leave no one behind’ has helped to highlight the importance of investing in inclusive services for persons with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Evidence on the experiences of young Ethiopians with disabilities remains weak. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data from 2017 to 2018, this article explores the educational, bodily integrity and psychosocial outcomes of adolescents with different impairment types (visual, hearing and physical) in rural and urban communities. Our findings indicate that young people with disabilities face intersecting barriers to inclusive education, heightened vulnerability to gender- and age-based violence, and increased psychosocial distress compared to peers without disabilities. Implications of these findings for policy and programming, include: the pressing need for specialised training and mentoring of education and other service providers; investments in support networks for parents of adolescents with disabilities; and strengthening of disability-inclusive social protection and referral mechanisms.

scholarly journals One Hundred Years of Social Protection: The Rise of the Social Question in Brazil, India, China, and South Africa, 1920–2020

2020 ◽  
pp. 383-428
Author(s):  
Lutz Leisering
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Construction ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Political Language ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Social Question ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
The Social ◽  
Language Semantics

AbstractThis chapter concludes the volume on social protection in Brazil, India, China, and South Africa, 1920–2020. The main findings are: (1) Historical evolution—the hundred years from 1920 to 2020 mark the century of the rise of social protection in the four countries. (2) The social construction of the social—all four countries, with the exception of India, have articulated social issues in a generalised way as a social question. (3) Political language—semantics of the social have spread in all four countries. (4) “Multireferentiality”—social protection policies were largely driven and shaped by “non-social” ideas and interests. (5) Transnational diffusion—external ideas have pervaded domestic social protection policies. The chapter closes by thoughts about the future of social protection in middle-income countries.

Social Protection, Adolescent Well-Being, and Development in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suman Verma
Keyword(s):  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Developmental Potential ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Social Protection Systems ◽  
Cycle Of Poverty ◽  
Low And Middle Income

Effective social protection policies are crucial to realizing adolescents’ rights, ensuring their well-being, breaking the cycle of poverty and vulnerability, and helping them realize their full developmental potential. Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have extended social security coverage to ensure basic protections—while continuing to develop social protection systems. Social protection for LMIC adolescents in the context of gross violations of their basic rights is examined. Prevalence, consequences of protection rights violations, and the role and impact of social protection programs in ensuring enhanced opportunities for development and well-being among young people are discussed. Results demonstrate direct impacts (e.g., increased income, consumption, goods and services access; greater social inclusion; reduced household stress). LMICs need integrated social protection policy and program expansion if the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is to be realized. With adolescent-centered policies and investments, governments can help adolescents realize their rights to a fulfilling and productive life.

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