Poverty and inequality estimates of National Income Dynamics Study revisited

The National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS), introduced since 2008, has become an alternative data source for the South African poverty and inequality analyses. In addition to the fact that NIDS is the first national panel study of individuals in South Africa, it is also the only survey that allows the respondents to report income and expenditure as both a single estimate, ‘one-shot’ amount and an aggregate amount derived from the sum of the amounts for sub-categories. The latter variable, after imputations, was the preferred variable for deriving the poverty and inequality estimates. This paper examines if the poverty and inequality estimates are significantly different, using both the single estimate and the aggregate (before and after imputations) income and expenditure variables.

I32

Poverty, Inequality, National Income Dynamics Study, Household surveys, measurement, South Africa