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Halving Poverty in South Africa: Growth and Distributional Aspects

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  • Fiona Tregenna

Abstract

The United Nations Millennium Declaration commits to halving extreme poverty between 2000 and 2015. The South African government has set a goal of halving poverty by 2014, although the meaning of this goal has not yet been defined. This article specifies government's stated target of halving poverty by 2014 in terms of specific measures of the poverty gap and poverty headcount ratio, using income and expenditure survey microdata. With the poverty line as defined here, approximately half the South African population falls below the poverty line.

Suggested Citation

  • Fiona Tregenna, 2011. "Halving Poverty in South Africa: Growth and Distributional Aspects," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2011-060, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2011-060
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    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/wp2011-060.pdf
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