Cash transfers and labour supply under structural unemployment

Timothy Köhler (), Benjamin Stanwix and Haroon Bhorat

No wp-2026-19, WIDER Working Paper Series from World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER)

Abstract: How effective are cash transfers at improving labour market outcomes in settings characterized by severe job scarcity and constraints to self-employment? This paper provides evidence of the labour market effects of South Africa's Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant, a low-value, unconditional cash transfer targeting unemployed working-age adults that was first introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic and extended annually thereafter.

Keywords: Cash transfers; Labour; South Africa; Developing countries; Unemployment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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