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Vulnerability In Employment: Evidence from South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Haroon Bhorat
  • Kezia Lilenstein
  • Morne Oosthuizen
  • Amy Thornton

    (University of Cape Town
    Deputy Director)

Abstract

This paper sets out to update the impression of vulnerability in the labour market, by examining how low pay and informality interact with each other, and with poverty. Throughout, we try to include comparative results from within the sub-Saharan Africa and Latin American regions. What becomes clear is that a job alone is not a solution to poverty in South Africa. And informality in South Africa plays an important role as a buffer to unemployment in contrast to the higher levels of voluntary informality in Latin America.

Suggested Citation

  • Haroon Bhorat & Kezia Lilenstein & Morne Oosthuizen & Amy Thornton, 2016. "Vulnerability In Employment: Evidence from South Africa," Working Papers 201604, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    • Handle: RePEc:ctw:wpaper:201604
    as

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    File URL: https://commerce.uct.ac.za/sites/default/files/content_migration/commerce_uct_ac_za/1093/files/DPRU%2520WP201604.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2016
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    2. Vimal Ranchhod & Taryn Dinkelman, 2007. "Labour Market Transitions in South Africa: What can we learn from matched Labour Force Survey data?," SALDRU Working Papers 14, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    3. Derek Yu, 2012. "Defining and measuring informal employment in South Africa," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(1), pages 157-175, March.
    4. Morné OOSTHUIZEN, 2012. "Low pay in South Africa," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 151(3), pages 173-192, September.
    5. Stephan Klasen & Ingrid Woolard, 2009. "Surviving Unemployment Without State Support: Unemployment and Household Formation in South Africa," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 18(1), pages 1-51, January.
    6. Dinkelman, Taryn & Ranchhod, Vimal, 2012. "Evidence on the impact of minimum wage laws in an informal sector: Domestic workers in South Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 27-45.
    7. Kezia Lilenstein & Ingrid Woolard & Murray Leibbrandt, 2016. "In-Work Poverty in South Africa: The Impact of Income Sharing in the Presence of High Unemployment," SALDRU Working Papers 193, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    8. Kanbur, Ravi, 2009. "Conceptualising Informality: Regulation and Enforcement," IZA Discussion Papers 4186, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Haroon Bhorat & Ravi Kanbur & Benjamin Stanwix, 2014. "Estimating the Impact of Minimum Wages on Employment, Wages, and Non-Wage Benefits: The Case of Agriculture in South Africa," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 96(5), pages 1402-1419.
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    12. Josh Budlender & Murray Leibbrandt & Ingrid Woolard, 2015. "South African poverty lines: a review and two new money-metric thresholds," SALDRU Working Papers 151, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J46 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Informal Labor Market

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