The potential of social grants expenditure to promote local economic development and job creation
by JACOBS, P, BAIPHETHI, M, NGCOGO, N & HART, T, 2010Research Report. Centre for Poverty Employment and Growth, Human Sciences Research Council
South Africa’s publicly funded social safety net, which consists of multiple conditional cash grants, has expanded considerably since a child support grant was added to the old age pensions and disability grants in 2002. Jacobs et al draw together local and global evidence on the developmental potential of social grants, including a typology of social…
read more >>Policy Options to Leverage the System of Social Grants for Improved Access to Economic Opportunity
by ALTMAN, M. & BOYCE, G, 2008Research Report, Employment Growth & Development Initiative, Human Sciences Research Council
The distribution of social grants in South Africa expanded considerably between 2001 and 2007. However, in a context of high unemployment, there is concern that unemployed household members depend on grants that are meant to target children, the aged or disabled. Thus grants are spread thinly, dramatically reducing their contribution to the intended beneficiaries. Moreover,…
read more >>Overview of Developmental Social Welfare Service Budgets 2004/05-2007/08
by STREAK, J, 2005Presentation to the Work 2005 Conference, 05 September 2005, University of the Witwatersrand
Streak provides an overview of social welfare budgets in South Africa. She starts by reviewing the intergovernmental financing responsibilities for social welfare, and provides the budget classification of social welfare spending at national and provincial level. Streak then reviews the trends in provincial social welfare budgets from 2004/05 to 2007/08, and highlights challenges to scaling…
read more >>Budgeting for job creation in social welfare services: exploring EPWP opportunities
by PLAATJIES, D.& NICOLAOU-MANIAS, K., 2005Research Report, Employment Growth & Development Initiative, Human Sciences Research Council
Plaatjies and Nicolaou-Manias consider the budgeting process for social welfare services. Creating jobs in social welfare and community based services received considerable attention in the Human Sciences Research Council employment scenarios. The paper then reviews the EPWP, its objectives and its role in the social services sector. It focuses on three elements: early childhood development,…
read more >>Expanding Early Childhood Development Services: Labour Market Challenges
by ALTMAN, M, 2008Agenda, 22:78, 120-131
Altman outlines some of the challenges in rapidly expanding early childhood development (ECD) service delivery in a way that meets acceptable quality standards and that generates sustainable employment, based on findings from the “Scaling up ECD (0-4)” programme at the Human Sciences Research Council. It reviews the service delivery gap, outlines government’s emerging ECD programme,…
read more >>Social security for young people amidst high poverty and unemployment: some policy options for South Africa
by ALTMAN,M., MOKOMANE,Z., WRIGHT,G, 2014Development Southern Africa,2014, Vol. 31:2, 347-362
South African youth experience extremely high levels of unemployment and poverty. Currently there is no social assistance for low-income young adults in South Africa unless they are disabled. Interventions are needed that can achieve widespread poverty alleviation, as well as help facilitate economic participation to improve lifelong earnings. In this article, six examples of social…
read more >>Social grants to promote youth employment: some policy options
by ALTMAN,M., MOKOMANE, Z., G WRIGHT, 2014Development Southern Africa. Vol. 31, No. 2, 347–362. 2014.
South African youth experience extremely high levels of unemployment and poverty. Currently there is no social assistance for low-income young adults in South Africa unless they are disabled. Interventions are needed that can achieve widespread poverty alleviation, as well as help facilitate economic participation to improve lifelong earnings. In this article, six examples of social…
read more >>Employment Creation Through the Provision of Social Development Services: Exploring the Options
by DU TOIT, R., 2005Development Southern Africa, 22:5, 657-671
The high unemployment rate in South Africa is a central concern of policy makers. Because there are only a few substantial labour intensive industries, led by the private sector, it has become essential to explore other less mainstream avenues for employment creation. The role of public works programmes has historically focused on the infrastructure sector,…
read more >>Determinants of Income Mobility and Household Poverty Dynamics in South Africa
by WOOLARD, I. & KLAASEN, S. , 2004Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) Discussion paper series, No. 1030
Woolard and Klaasen analyse household income mobility dynamics among Africans in South Africa’s most populous province, Kwazulu-Natal, between 1993 and 1998. Compared to industrialized 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…
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