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South Africa's Emerging Black Middle Class: A Harbinger of Political Change?

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  • Robert Mattes

Abstract

South Africa has seen a significant increase in the size of the black middle class in the post-apartheid period, but the attitudinal consequences of indicators of the middle class, as of 2011, are inconsistent and modest in size. While members of the middle class are no more likely to hold democratic values than other black South Africans, they are more likely to want government to secure higher order, rather than basic, survival needs.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Mattes, 2014. "South Africa's Emerging Black Middle Class: A Harbinger of Political Change?," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2014-147, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2014-147
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    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/wp2014-147.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Vishnu Padayachee, 2019. "Can progressive macroeconomic policy address growth and employment while reducing inequality in South Africa?," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 30(1), pages 3-21, March.

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