A reconsideration of what and who is middle class in South Africa

In this paper, we revisit 'what and who' is middle class in South Africa using data collected in the 2008 National Income Dynamics Study. First we consider how to identify the middle class based on two broad definitions adopted in the international literature: a middle class defined by the middle share of the national income distribution; and a middle class defined by an absolute level of affluence and lifestyle. We explore alternative ways of capturing the ‘middle strata’ of the national income distribution; and we suggest an approach for identifying threshold levels of income associated with middle-class affluence. Second, we show that both the size and the composition of the middle class in South Africa are very sensitive to how the middle class is defined. In particular, we demonstrate that there is very little overlap between the two broad definitions, a finding which reflects very high levels of poverty and inequality in the country. Lastly, both definitions of the middle class are shown to be robust to two common issues of measurement, namely the inclusion of implied rental income, and the use of expenditure as opposed to income as the basis for measuring class status.middle class; income strata; middle-class affluence; income distribution

Inclusive Urban Development in South Africa: What Does It Mean and How Can It Be Measured?

Inclusive development is the seductive idea that a more dynamic and productive economy can go hand in hand with reduced inequality and exclusion. This requires crafting together different values and realities, through cooperation and negotiation between different economic and social interests. This is particularly difficult in South Africa (SA) because of the deep-seated social divisions and stagnant economy. The dominant discourses emphasise either ‘growth and redistribution’ or ‘radical economic transformation’. Both are driven from above, by national government. Neither recognise the value of mobilising the energy and talents of different communities and institutions within cities and regions to engage in democratic renewal and to support joint efforts to enhance skills, build capabilities, create assets, generate jobs, and improve livelihoods. Tracking progress through carefully chosen indicators can provide timely feedback and assist learning, to ensure that bold initiatives actually work and can be scaled up to achieve greater equity while expanding economic opportunities. Cities have considerable potential to combine prosperity with social inclusion, and thereby provide pathways out of poverty – but this is not automatic or inevitable, because a flourishing urban economy can also squeeze out the poor through the housing market. Proactive policies are required to manage the process of urban land and property development in ways that accommodate in-migrants and prevent social exclusion. A positive approach to investment in marginalised groups and communities is also necessary, so that they can develop and prosper over time, and reciprocate through higher productivity.Rockefeller Foundatio

COVID-19 amplifies urban inequalities

COVID-19 has had asymmetrical spatial impacts across South Africa. New evidence from the National Income Dynamics Study: Coronavirus Rapid Mobile (NIDS-CRAM) survey shows that the pandemic and lockdown reflex have magnified pre-existing divisions within cities. Although COVID-19 has severely impacted the whole country, townships and informal settlements have proved more vulnerable than suburbs. As South Africa was already one of the most unevenly developed countries in the world, COVID-19 has widened the gap between places, which face very different levels of risk and resilience.Significance: We present original evidence that COVID-19 has affected poor urban communities more than it has suburbs in South Africa. This is apparent in terms of employment and hunger. The effect has been to magnify territorial divisions and exacerbate social discontent. Premature withdrawal of government relief will aggravate the hardships facing poor communities that rely on these resources following the slump in jobs

ISER Working Paper, no. 2015/2

This paper attempts to assess the extent of inclusivity in post-apartheid income growth by focusing on one intuitive part of the income distribution: the actual middle (or middle-income strata). If South African macro and social policy explicitly aims to be ‘inclusive’, it is important to know how the average [median] South African income level changed over the first fifteen years of democracy. Common summary measures of economic progress such as GDP per capita may mask the standard of living experienced by the majority of the population in any particular period. Tracking the progress in the middle strata of South Africa’s income distribution provides a fresh perspective on the nature of economic progress in the country. This is against a worrying backdrop of rising income inequality post-1994 (Van der Berg and Louw, 2004; Hoogeveen and Özler, 2006; Leibbrandt et al, 2010). The paper is structured as follows. Section 2 motivates for the importance of focussing on the actual middle of the income distribution and highlights the emphasis on reducing income inequality within South African macroeconomic and social policy. Issues of comparability in the data and the choice of definition for the middle are discussed in section 3. Section 4 presents descriptive statistics relating to changes in incomes, and ends with a brief analysis of non-income measures of progress. The final section summarises the main findings and concludes

A survey of xerophilic Aspergillus from indoor environment, including descriptions of two new section Aspergillus species producing eurotium-like sexual states

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Changes in household composition since the end of apartheid : an analysis of household composition and well-being.

Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2008.Changes in household composition in South Africa are examined for the period 1995 – 2006 using nationally representative household surveys. Trends show a significant fall in nuclear type households (households that contain immediate family members only) whilst a rise in extended type households (households that contain immediate family members plus ‘other’ relatives). These trends however mask more unique changes in specific household types. More specifically, amongst nuclear type households, there is a rise in ‘single person’ households alongside a fall in ‘nuclear family’ households. Within extended type households, there is a rise in non-standard ‘skip generation’ and ‘complex but related’ households alongside a fall in standard ‘three generation’ and ‘multi generation’ forms of household organisation. Furthermore household heads from different household types are shown to display considerable heterogeneity in terms of their demographic characteristics as well as their poverty levels. Poverty estimates are particularly sensitive to the choice of equivalence scale. Whilst extended type households are consistently poorer than nuclear type households across plausible equivalence scales, poverty rankings amongst specific household types change significantly when different equivalence scales are employed. Across time, the headcount ratio for nuclear type households is seen to fall whilst the headcount ratio for extended type households appears to rise

COVID-19 amplifies urban inequalities

COVID-19 has had asymmetrical spatial impacts across South Africa. New evidence from the National Income Dynamics Study: Coronavirus Rapid Mobile (NIDS-CRAM) survey shows that the pandemic and lockdown reflex have magnified pre-existing divisions within cities. Although COVID-19 has severely impacted the whole country, townships and informal settlements have proved more vulnerable than suburbs. As South Africa was already one of the most unevenly developed countries in the world, COVID-19 has widened the gap between places, which face very different levels of risk and resilience.Significance: We present original evidence that COVID-19 has affected poor urban communities more than it has suburbs in South Africa. This is apparent in terms of employment and hunger. The effect has been to magnify territorial divisions and exacerbate social discontent. Premature withdrawal of government relief will aggravate the hardships facing poor communities that rely on these resources following the slump in jobs

Regional value chains as new pathways to development?

There is growing scepticism about global value chains because of their association with an unequal global trading system. Regionally coordinated and integrated production in Asia appears to have served as a better mechanism for promoting economic prosperity than direct integration into global markets. This is founded upon regional cooperation on investment, trade and value chains. This research note distinguishes different forms of these chains, discusses the conditions for their emergence and sheds light on some of their effects - for both individual firms and entire continents. Asia's experience is compared with Africa's and Latin America's

GCRF Centre for Sustainable, Healthy and Learning Cities and Neighbourhoods: Household Survey and Neighbourhood Focus Group Data from Seven Asian and African Countries, 2021-2022

In order to bring a thorough and comprehensive understanding of social, economic and environmental sustainability challenges faced by cities and local communities in the developing countries, the SHLC team conducted a major household survey followed by a neighbourhood focus group interview in seven Asian and African countries from late 2021 to early 2022. In each country the study includes two case study cities: one large city and one smaller regional cities. Within each case study cities, neighbourhoods were identified and categorised into five income and wealth bands: the rich, upper middle income, middle income, lower middle and low income neighbourhoods. A household survey was carried out face to face by trained interviewers with a random adult member of the household. The 20 page common questionnaire was designed and adopted by all teams, which cover topics of housing, residence, living conditions, migration, education, health, neighbourhood infrastructure, facilities, governance and relations, income and employments, gender equality and impacts from Covid-19. The sample was distributed in the city to representative the five neighbourhood types. The survey was completed in 13 of the 14 case study cities (fieldwork in Chongqing in China was delayed by the Covid-19 lockdowns and implemented in August 2023). The target sample for each city was 1000; the total sample in the database (SPSS and STATA) include 14245 households. The survey was followed by focus group interviews. A carefully designed and agreed common interview guide was used by all team. The target was to have one focus group for one neighbourhood in each income band in each city. A total of 74 focus group interviews were conducted (Fieldwork in Datong and Chongqing in China was delayed). The transcripts are the qualitative data shared here