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The Changing Nature of Inequality in South Africa

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  • Jenkins, Carolyn
  • Thomas, Lynne

Abstract

The dispersion of racial incomes in South Africa has been declining since the mid 1970s. This has been accompanied by rising within-group inequality, especially amongst blacks, driven by growing unemployment. Consequently, there has been little improvement in aggregate indicators of inequality. In this study, it is argued that labour market changes resulting from the breakdown of apartheid in the workplace dominated shifts in the distribution of income during the 1970s and 1980s. Subsequently, the effects of liberalization have been more influential. Since the political transition in 1994, South Africa s government has sought to address the legacy of extreme racial income disparities within the framework of a broadly conservative macroeconomic strategy designed to stimulate private investment. However, economic growth has, to date, been insufficient to reverse declining formal-sector employment. Slow reform is likely to be more sustainable, but this means that inequality will probably remain a defining feature of South Africa for many years.

Suggested Citation

  • Jenkins, Carolyn & Thomas, Lynne, 2000. "The Changing Nature of Inequality in South Africa," WIDER Working Papers 295535, United Nations University, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:widerw:295535
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.295535
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Horman Chitonge, 2014. "Land Redistribution and Zero Hunger Programs: Can South Africa Reap a Triple Dividend?," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 6(4), pages 380-406, December.
    2. Delfin S. Go & John Page, 2008. "Africa at a Turning Point? : Growth, Aid, and External Shocks," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6421.
    3. Tomei, Manuela., 2005. "Ação afirmativa para a igualdade racial : características, impactos e desafios," ILO Working Papers 993775053402676, International Labour Organization.
    4. Gilbert, Tal & Gilbert, Leah, 2004. "Globalisation and local power: influences on health matters in South Africa," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 245-255, March.
    5. Ali Alsamawi & Joy Murray & Manfred Lenzen & Daniel Moran & Keiichiro Kanemoto, 2014. "The Inequality Footprints of Nations: A Novel Approach to Quantitative Accounting of Income Inequality," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(10), pages 1-10, October.
    6. Horman Chitonge, 2013. "Land Use and Rural Livelihoods in South Africa: Emerging Evidence from the Eastern Cape," Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, Centre for Agrarian Research and Education for South, vol. 2(1), pages 1-40, April.

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    Keywords

    International Development;

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