Surviving unemployment without state support: Unemployment and household formation in South Africa

 

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dc.creator Klasen, Stephen
dc.creator Woolard, Ingrid
dc.date 2013-10-11T12:36:55Z
dc.date 2013-10-11T12:36:55Z
dc.date 2005-10
dc.date.accessioned 2015-05-28T10:06:28Z
dc.date.available 2015-05-28T10:06:28Z
dc.date.issued 2015-05-28
dc.identifier 0-77011-063-1
dc.identifier http://hdl.handle.net/11090/662
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/11090/662
dc.description While in many African countries, open unemployment is largely confined to urban areas and thus overall rates are quite low, in South Africa (and a few other Southern African countries), open unemployment rates hover around 30%, with rural unemployment rates being even higher than that. This occurs despite the near complete absence of an unemployment insurance system and little labour market regulation that applies to rural labour markets. This paper examines how unemployment can persist without support from unemployment compensation. Analysing household surveys from 1993, 1995, and 1998, we find that the household formation response of the unemployed is the critical way in which the unemployed assure access to resources. In particular, unemployment delays the setting up of an individual household by young persons, in some cases by decades. It also leads to the dissolution of existing households and a return of constituent members to parents and other relatives and friends. Access to state transfers (in particular, noncontributory old age pensions) increases the likelihood of attracting unemployed persons to a household. Some unemployed do not benefit from this safety net, and the presence of unemployed members pulls many households supporting them into poverty. We also show that the household formation response draw some of the unemployed away from employment opportunities, and thus lowers their employment prospects.
dc.language en
dc.publisher CSSR and SALDRU
dc.relation CSSR/SALDRU Working Papers;129
dc.subject Unemployment
dc.subject South Africa
dc.subject Rural unemployment
dc.subject Urban unemployment
dc.subject Unemployment insurance
dc.subject Labour market regulation
dc.subject Household formation
dc.subject State transfers
dc.subject Pension
dc.subject Social grants
dc.subject Poverty
dc.subject Employment opportunities
dc.subject Employment
dc.title Surviving unemployment without state support: Unemployment and household formation in South Africa
dc.type Working Paper
uct.type.publication Research en_ZA
uct.type.resource Working Paper en_ZA
dc.publisher.institution University of Cape Town
dc.publisher.faculty Faculty of Commerce en_ZA
dc.publisher.department SALDRU en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Working Paper DA - 2015-05-28 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - Unemployment KW - South Africa KW - Rural unemployment KW - Urban unemployment KW - Unemployment insurance KW - Labour market regulation KW - Household formation KW - State transfers KW - Pension KW - Social grants KW - Poverty KW - Employment opportunities KW - Employment LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2015 T1 - Surviving unemployment without state support: Unemployment and household formation in South Africa TI - Surviving unemployment without state support: Unemployment and household formation in South Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11090/662 ER - en_ZA


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