Why Basic Income is on the agenda in South Africa Urgency of this issue reflects the country’s challenges- while categorized as an upper middle income country, the reality facing the majority is different: • Crisis of hunger: over a quarter of South Africans (around 16 million) live below the food poverty line. [...] • The crisis of inequality: “South Africa… is the most unequal country in the world, ranking first among 164 countries” World Bank The political economy of Basic Income in South Africa - Deeply entrenched structural factors mitigating against sustainable livelihoods for the majority include: - landlessness and the lack of a vibrant peasant economy; - the small size of our informal economy; - finan. [...] Impact of the SRD grant • Though the grant is so small (less than half the FPL), impacts documented in terms of hunger, poverty alleviation and economic stimulus: • In 2020, 93.3% of grant recipients used the grant for food • 80% said the grant made a positive difference in their lives • 53.1% pooled their grants with other household income • 88.14% of recipients said the grant should be given to. [...] • Broad sense of potential numbers and gross costs is seen in extract from this 2021 research by IEJ: Net cost of a BIG • As a rough estimate, the net cost of a BIG would be roughly 60% of its gross cost. [...] • The larger the stimulus, within a feasible band, the larger the returns to the economy.
Authors
- Pages
- 20
- Published in
- South Africa
Table of Contents
- Slide 1: PATHWAYS To BASIC INCOME IN SOUTH AFRICA 1
- Slide 2: Introduction 2
- Slide 3: Why Basic Income is on the agenda in South Africa 3
- Slide 4: The political economy of Basic Income in South Africa 4
- Slide 5: The political economy of a UBI for South Africa con.td 5
- Slide 6: What is the evidence on UBI? 6
- Slide 7: What is the evidence? 7
- Slide 8: Impact of the SRD grant 8
- Slide 9: Cost of a BIG 9
- Slide 10 10
- Slide 11: Net cost of a BIG 11
- Slide 12: Pathways to a UBIG 12
- Slide 13: Macro economic pathways- BIG is viable & sustainable 13
- Slide 14 14
- Slide 15: Positions of political parties on BIG 15
- Slide 16 16
- Slide 17 17
- Slide 18 18
- Slide 19: IEJ possible tax options https://www.iej.org.za/financing-options-for-a-universal-basic-income-guarantee-in-south-africa/ IEJ 2021 19
- Slide 20 20
