Social assistance reform during a period of fiscal stress
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP17/2010Publication date: 2010
Author(s):
[protected email address] (Department of Economics, University of Stellenbosch)
This paper reflects on the current state and likely future of the South African social assistance system, focusing specifically on its fiscal sustainability, its effectiveness as an instrument to combat poverty in a longer-term developmental sense, and its impact on the allocation of resources. Despite showing that the grants system is an effective intervention which markedly reduces poverty and apparently does not have severe undesirable behavioural effects, the paper argues that the scope for strengthening anti-poverty policy in South Africa by further expanding the social grants system nonetheless has become very limited. The main policy conclusions of the paper are that sustainable poverty reduction in South Africa requires inclusive job-creating economic growth, and that anti-poverty policy should remain focused on achieving his objective.
JEL Classification:H31, H53, I38, J65
Keywords:Social grants, Effects of social grants, Labour market outcomes, Anti-poverty policy, South Africa
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Upcoming Seminars
Monday 21 July 202512:00-13:00
Izak Odendaal: Old Mutual Wealth Chief Investment Strategist
Topic: "Diverging fiscal policies and what it means for markets"
12:00-13:00
Dr Neil Rankin: Ceo Of Predictive Insights & Stellenbosch University
Topic: "TBC"
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Prof Willem Boshoff: Stellenbosch University
Topic: "Two competing approaches in South African competition policy: merger control and anti-cartel enforcement over the past 30 years"
BER Weekly
4 Jul 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act passes as tariff pause deadline loomsThis week brought a flurry of data releases alongside a heavy dose of political drama, both locally and globally. Yesterday’s stronger-than-expected US jobs report was the standout global data release. Domestically, tensions persisted in the DA-ANC relationship. On the international stage, headlines were dominated by the passage of the One Big Beautiful...
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