Current poverty and income distribution in the context of South African history

Servaas van der Berg ()

No 22/2010, Working Papers from Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics

Abstract: This paper describes and analyses current poverty and income distribution in South Africa, with a central concern the relationship between poverty, inequality and growth. The paper also investigates patterns of and trends in poverty and income distribution, a literature with a long and distinguished history. Drawing from recent literature in this regard, the paper shows that the labour market – rather than access to wealth or to political and fiscal power – currently sets the limits to redistribution. Wage inequality, deeply rooted in South Africa’s history, plays a central role in overall income distribution, and patterns of human capital development are fundamental to the future growth path and therefore to poverty and income distribution. The paper therefore concludes that reducing inequality substantially is currently unlikely without a massive increase in the human capital of those presently poor, but that prospects in this regard are inauspicious.

Keywords: South Africa; poverty; income distribution; labour market (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 D63 J31 N37 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr and nep-dev
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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