Dualism or underdevelopment in South Africa: what does a quantitative assessment of poverty, inequality and employment reveal?

Figures & data

Table 1: Comparison of social indicators from selected middle-income countries

Index	Turkey	Algeria	South Africa	Chile	Mexico	Malaysia
HDI rank	85	106	107	38	54	59
Life expectancy (years)	69.8	69.6	52.1	75.3	72.6	72.5
Adult literacy	85.1	66.7	85.3	95.8	91.4	87.5
Combined enrolment	62	72	93	78	71	66
GDP per capita ($)	6974	5308	9401	9417	9023	9068
HDI value	0.742	0.697	0.695	0.76	0.796	0.782
Population (2000) (m)	66.7	30.3	43.3	15.2	98.9	22.2
< $2 PPP poverty line	18	15.1	35.8	8.7	37.7	na
% pop using improved water	83	94	86	94	86	na
% 1yrs immunised for measles	80	83	82	96	95	88
Infant mortality	38	50	55	10	25	8
Under 5 mortality	45	65	70	12	30	9
Gini coefficient	41.5	35.3	59.3	56.6	53.1	49.2
Source: UNDP, 2002; World Bank, 2002. Most data refer to 2000.

Figure 1: Cumulative distribution function

Table 2: Formal and informal labour market trends, 1997–2004

(1000s)	October Household Survey			Labour Force Survey
	1997	1998	1999	2000-1	2000-2	2001-1	2001-2	2002-1	2002-2	2003-1	2003-2	2004-1
	Formal	6 406	6 527	6 813	6 678	6 842	6 678	6 873	7 037	7 034	7 358	7 461	7 827
Commercial agriculture	496	726	804	757	667	699	666	734	811	865	832	930
Subsistence agriculture	163	202	287	1 508	965	653	359	792	520	420	350	337
Informal	966	1 077	1 574	1 820	1 934	2 665	1 873	1 767	1 703	1 845	1 899	1 834
Domestic work	992	749	799	1 001	999	914	916	972	875	1 005	1 022	1 013
Unspecified	71	108	93	115	306	227	146	57	65	73	17	44
Total employed	9 094	9 390	10 369	11 880	11 713	11 837	10 833	11 359	11 008	11 566	11 581	11 985
Unemployed (official)	2 451	3 163	3 158	4 333	4 082	4 240	4 525	4 738	4 837	5 250	4 627	4 611
Participation rate (%)	46.6	48.8	51.5	61.3	58.7	59.3	56.1	58.3	56.7	56.9	54.4	54.5
Discouraged	2 751	2 471	2 724	2 220	2 477	2 721	3 173	3 138	3 088	3 171	3 819	3 801
Not eco active	13 961	13 157	12 753	10 242	11 100	11 044	12 006	11 543	12 118	12 740	13 638	13 833
Total not employed	16 412	16 320	15 911	14 575	15 182	15 284	16 532	16 281	16 955	17 990	18 265	18 444
Total pop, age 15–65	25 505	25 710	26 280	26 454	26 895	27 121	27 365	27 673	27 984	29 555	29 917	30 429
Note: There are two discontinuities in the series, one between 1999 and February 2001, the other between September 2002 and March 2003. The first is caused by the changeover from the OHS to the LFS (note the large jump in the total number employed, and the large fall in the number ‘not economically active’). The second is caused by the weighting of the survey results to the 2001 population census instead of the 1996 census. Note the substantial increase in the size of the working age population. Re-weighted figures for earlier years than 2003 are not yet available.
Source: Devey et al. (2004: 4) (1997–2001); Labour Force Surveys, 2002–2004.

Table 3: Estimate of working age people meeting ‘Second’ economy criteria

	‘000	%
Subsistence farmers:	420	6.7
Informal self-employed earning less than $2 per day	486	7.8
Discouraged unemployed	3819	61.0
Employed earning less than $2 per day	1536	24.5
Total	6261

Table 4: Incidence of livelihood activity, 1993 and 1998

Activity	KIDS 1993	KIDS 1998
Wage labour
Primary labour market	35.8	35.1
Secondary labour market	21.3	20.4
Casual labour	11.1	15.1
Agricultural
Crop production	23.6	38.8
Livestock production	22.5	24.2
Entrepreneurial
Non-farm entrepreneurial	18.5	14.5
Claiming
Old age pensions	29.0	35.1
Other welfare payments	6.7	8.7
Contributory social protection	5.7	7.8
Regular remittances	21.1	24.2
Irregular remittances	17.8	18.4
n =	1031	1031

Table 5: Structural poverty classes

Structural poverty classes	HHS
Dual failures	1.5
Structurally poor	16.2
Stochastically upward	5.3
Structurally upward	3.9
Stochastically downward	3.8
Structurally downward	21.1
Never poor	48.2
n =	1031

World Bank . 2002 . World Development Report 2002: building institutions for markets , New York : Oxford University Press .

 Google Scholar

Devey , R , Skinner , C and Valodia , I . 2004 . Definitions, data and the informal economy in South Africa: a critical analysis , Durban : School of Development Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal . Unpublished memo

 Google Scholar