How cash transfers enable agency through livelihoods in South Africa

Chibuikem C. Nnaeme, Leila Patel and Sophie Plagerson

World Development, 2020, vol. 131, issue C

Abstract: Although cash transfers primarily support recipients' consumption of goods for basic needs, there is a growing body of evidence showing that they can also promote livelihood activities. Yet there has been little theoretical or empirical analysis of the contribution of human agency in facilitating the conversion of cash transfers into livelihood strategies. This paper presents findings from a qualitative study conducted in a poor urban community in South Africa. Giddens’s structuration theory provides an analytical tool to understand how cash transfers enable agency through livelihood activities. The first finding is that beneficiaries conceptualized as “developmental agents”, were highly motivated to improve their lives; and that they were decision-makers who made different types of strategic and operational decisions to improve their livelihood activities. Agency expressed through a strong sense of self, ingenuity and resilience denoted participants as active rather than passive recipients of public assistance. Receipt of cash transfers activated agency, enabling recipients to start or diversify livelihood activities. Second, the challenges and constraints are identified that limited their livelihood outcomes, such as high levels of poverty in the community and unemployment. Finally, it shows how beneficiaries attempted to circumvent structural barriers to human development. The study contributes to understanding the interaction between citizens and the state in reducing poverty and in promoting social and economic development.

Keywords: Cash transfers; Livelihood activities; Agency; Structuration theory; Social protection; South Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X20300826
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:131:y:2020:i:c:s0305750x20300826

DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.104956

Access Statistics for this article

World Development is currently edited by O. T. Coomes

More articles in World Development from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().