Browsing by Subject "Social security"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Infrastructuring aid : materializing social protection in Northern Kenya
    (2013-12) Donovan, Kevin P.
    In numerous African countries, humanitarian and development organizations—as well as governments—are expanding expenditures on social protection schemes as a means of poverty alleviation. These initiatives, which typically provide small cash grants to poor households, are often considered particularly agreeable for the simplicity of their administration and the feasibility of their implementation. This paper examines the background work required to deploy social protection in one especially remote area: the margins of postcolonial Kenya. Specifically, it documents the often-overlooked social and technical construction of the infrastructure necessary so that cash transfers may function with the ease and simplicity for which they are commended. Attention to the practice of ‘infrastructuring’ offers insights into the tensions and politics of what is rapidly becoming a key form of transnational governance in the global south, especially the way in which market-based means and humanitarian ethics overlap.
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    Social grants, welfare, and the incentive to trade-off health for income among Individuals on HAART in South Africa
    (Springer Verlag, 2009) Venkataramani, Atheendar S; Maughan-Brown, Brendan; Nattrass, Nicoli; Prah Ruger, Jennifer
    South Africa’s government disability grants are considered important in providing income support to low-income AIDS patients. Indeed, anecdotal evidence suggests that some individuals may opt to compromise their health by foregoing Highly Active Antiretroviral Treatment (HAART) to remain eligible for the grant. In this study, we examined the disability grant’s importance to individual and household welfare, and the impact of its loss using a unique longitudinal dataset of HAART patients in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. We found that grant loss was associated with sizeable declines in income and changes in household composition. However, we found no evidence of individuals choosing poor health over grant loss. Our analysis also suggested that though the grants officially target those too sick to work, some people were able to keep grants longer than expected, and others received grants while employed. This has helped cushion people on HAART, but other welfare measures need consideration.
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    Social security and HIV/AIDS: assessing “disability” in the context of ARV treatment
    (2004) Simchowitz, Brett
    Despite its less-than-stellar implementation, the South African government’s 2003 commitment to providing free antiretroviral therapy to those with AIDS has both provided hope to the many infected while at the same time highlighting the gross inadequacies of the current welfare system’s design. Examining circumstances in the Western Cape is a useful way of exploring the relationship between poverty and HIV/AIDS, as well as the role of government welfare programmes in influencing the success or failure of prevention and treatment interventions. This paper attempts to outline the shortfalls of the current social safety net in South Africa and the particular effects of those inadequacies on people suffering with HIV and AIDS. It focuses specifically on the disability grant in the Western Cape province, arguing that, in the absence of comprehensive unemployment benefits or a universal basic income grant, a broader redefinition of disability is needed that takes into account social factors in addition to a medical diagnosis. Finally, future legislation is evaluated, and potential solutions are suggested and critiqued.
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    The Evolution and Impact of Unconditional Cash Transfers in South Africa
    (Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, 2015-05-28) Woolard, Ingrid; Leibbrandt, Murray