The Post-2015 Development Agenda: What Are the Priorities for Africa?

As 2015 and the conclusion of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) draws near, attention has increasingly turned within the United Nations to the post-2015 development agenda. In particular, a High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons (HLP) was recently convened to advise on the global development framework beyond 2015 and construct the next development agenda. The panel was co-chaired by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom. The panel included leaders from civil society, the private sector and government

Poverty, Inequality and Labour Markets in Africa: A Descriptive Overview

This paper examines, through the application of available data, the poverty, inequality and labour market challenges facing Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The paper illustrates that apart from levels of poverty and inequality that are inordinately high in SSA, the region is also beset with perhaps the more worrying problem of accounting for almost all of the world's ultra-poor: namely those individuals living on less than half of the standard $1 a day poverty line

A Nation in Search of Jobs: Six Possible Policy Suggestions for Employment Creation in South Africa

I provide six possible employment creating policy options within the arena of principally, but not exclusively, active labour market policy. The notion is that interventions in these areas should provide for short-term and possibly long-term employment creation avenues and options for the currently unemployed

Estimates for Poverty Alleviation in South Africa, with an Application to a Universal Income Grant

Through the use of the standard tools of poverty analysis, this paper attempts to firstly measure the minimum financial contribution required from the state to eliminate poverty in the society. Secondly, we measure the absolute and relative household poverty impact of instituting a universal income grant, set at different monthly values

Public Expenditure and Poverty Alleviation in the South African Labour Market

The paper utilises a class of poverty measures to determine the potential cost to the fiscus, in 1995 Rands, of alleviating poverty in South Africa. The simulations are undertaken for both households and individuals in the society, by the different covariates of poverty

Africa's Jobs Challenge

There is great opportunity for potential growth in Africa, however, there is also the increasing challenge of promoting growth that is job-creating. It is evident that the continent has much potential to achieve the long-term growth that is necessary for reducing inequality and alleviating poverty. In order to do this, there are key pitfalls that need to be addressed, most importantly, infrastructure development and improved governance and rule of law

Employment Outcomes and Returns to Earnings in Post-Apartheid South Africa

This paper attempts to understand some of the key drivers of employment and earnings trends within the South African labour market in the 15 years following the demise of apartheid. A number of factors are discussed which feature in the understanding of South Africa’s labour market dynamics in general, and its high unemployment levels in particular

Poverty and Labour Market Markers of HIV+ Households: An Exploratory Methodological Analysis

This study, through an exploratory but promising methodology, provides a tentative analysis of the relationship between HIV, poverty and labour markets. The paper illustrates that the relationship between poverty, labour markets and HIV is not homogenous but multi-dimensional in character

The Newly Unemployed and the UIF Take-up Rate in the South African Labour Market

This paper investigates the take-up rate or claim-waiting rate of the unemployed under the South African Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) system. The goal is to identify disincentive effects that income replacement rates (IRR) and accumulated credits may have on the claimant‟s behaviour in terms of their claim waiting period rate (or how quickly they apply for UIF benefits)