The South African poor white problem in the early 20th century: Lessons for poverty today
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP14/2006Publication date: 2006
Author(s):
The causes of the poor white problem, first noted at a Dutch Reformed Church Synod in 1886, were unclear; many blamed the inadequate education system, urbanisation, cheap wages or cultural factors, while others argued that external events such as the rinderpest disease or the Anglo-Boer war added to the numbers of poor whites. Today, poverty is still at the heart of many policy debates in South Africa. A bad educational legacy, urbanisation, labour legislation, culture and tradition, and external factors are still amongst the factors said to be the causes of poverty. This paper assesses the similarities and differences between black poverty today and white poverty a century ago, and suggests possible policy lessons to learn from the past.
JEL Classification:N37, N97, I31
Keywords:poverty, poor white problem, inequality, policy proposals
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19 Apr 2024There was good news for global growth this week – with China's Q1 GDP beating expectations (see international section) and the IMF lifting its global growth forecast for 2024 once more. SA economic data releases, however, were mixed, with a welcome downtick in CPI inflation but relatively poor internal trade data. Most of the world’s economic policymakers...
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BER Weekly
19 Apr 2024There was good news for global growth this week – with China's Q1 GDP beating expectations (see international section) and the IMF lifting its global growth forecast for 2024 once more. SA economic data releases, however, were mixed, with a welcome downtick in CPI inflation but relatively poor internal trade data. Most of the world’s economic policymakers...
Read the full issue