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Increases in poverty in South Africa, 1999-2002

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  • Charles Meth
  • Rosa Dias

Abstract

Analysis of the results in the 1999 October Household Survey and the 2002 Labour Force Survey suggests that the number of people in the bottom two expenditure classes (R0-R399 and R400-R799 per household per month) increased by about 4,2 million over the period. As the boundaries of these expenditure classes remained constant in nominal terms, there is a likelihood that the number of people in poverty will have increased as well. This article attempts to discover whether this is indeed the case. The possible increase in the number of people in poverty is not equal to the increase in the number of people in these two expenditure categories. Rather, it is equal to the difference between the numbers of people in poverty in the two years. Our first crude estimate of the maximum potential number of 'new' poor suggests that it could be as high as 4,5 million. This estimate, which excludes any adjustments for possible underreporting of expenditure, child cost economies and household economies of scale, and the 'social wage', is whittled down as we attempt to make the relevant allowances. Responding to claims that poverty is increasing in the country, the government has pointed to a failure to consider the contribution of the social wage to the alleviation of poverty. Accordingly, we have also attempted to estimate the impact of the social wage.

Suggested Citation

  • Charles Meth & Rosa Dias, 2004. "Increases in poverty in South Africa, 1999-2002," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(1), pages 59-85.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:deveza:v:21:y:2004:i:1:p:59-85
    DOI: 10.1080/0376835042000181426
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    Cited by:

    1. Faraaz Shahaboonin & Oladipo Olalekan David & Abigail Van Wyk, 2023. "Historic Spatial Inequality and Poverty along Racial Lines in South Africa," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 13(1), pages 102-111, January.
    2. Mats Lundahl & Lennart Petersson, 2009. "Post-Apartheid South Africa: An Economic Success Story?," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2009-56, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Charles Meth, 2006. "What was the poverty headcount in 2004 and how does it compare to recent estimates by van der Berg et al?," SALDRU Working Papers 1, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    4. Mashele RAPATSA, 2015. "Poverty: A socio-economic threat to sustainable development as envisioned by South Africa’s transformative regime," EuroEconomica, Danubius University of Galati, issue 2(34), pages 41-48, November.
    5. Megbowon Ebenezer Toyin, 2018. "Multidimensional Poverty Analysis of Urban and Rural Households in South Africa," Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Oeconomica, Sciendo, vol. 63(1), pages 3-19, April.
    6. Anna McCord, 2003. "An Overview of the Performance and Potential of Public Works Programmes in South Africa," SALDRU/CSSR Working Papers 049, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    7. Gregory John Lee & Gareth Rees, 2016. "Give and Take Between Households and the State: Development and Application of A Benefaction–Contribution Ratio," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 62(2), pages 362-379, June.
    8. Shackleton, Sheona & Campbell, Bruce & Lotz-Sisitka, Heila & Shackleton, Charlie, 2008. "Links between the Local Trade in Natural Products, Livelihoods and Poverty Alleviation in a Semi-arid Region of South Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 505-526, March.
    9. Geeta Kingdon & John Knight, 2007. "Unemployment in South Africa, 1995--2003: Causes, Problems and Policies," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 16(5), pages 813-848, November.
    10. Aguero, Jorge M. & Carter, Michael R. & May, Julian, 2006. "Poverty and Inequality in the First Decade of South Africa's Democracy: What Can be Learned from Panel Data?," Staff Papers 12621, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    11. Bruce Rhodes & Tamlyn McKenzie, 2018. "To what extent does socio-economic status still affect household access to water and sanitation services in South Africa?," Working Papers 738, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    12. Claire Vermaak, 2010. "The Impact of Multiple Imputation of Coarsened Data on Estimates on the Working Poor in South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2010-086, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. Claire Vermaak, 2012. "Tracking poverty with coarse data: evidence from South Africa," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 10(2), pages 239-265, June.
    14. Pa Black, 2004. "Poverty At The Household Level," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 72(3), pages 413-436, September.

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