SA’s poverty rate is down — but it is the most unequal country in the world
Poverty rates in SA declined between 2006 and 2015, but inequality soared, making SA the most unequal country in the world. According to a World Bank report, Overcoming Poverty and Inequality, the nature of inequality had changed, with the role of skills and the labour market having grown in importance in explaining poverty and inequality, as opposed to gender or race, although these are still important factors. The report assessed SA’s progress in reducing inequality and poverty since 1994, finding that poverty had steadily increased in the period 2011 to 2015, a reminder of deep structural socio-economic challenges. SA’s social assistance programmes were relatively effective compared to other upper middle-income countries, although the country remains the most unequal in the world. Social assistance transfers reduced SA’s Gini co-efficient — a measure of inequality — by an estimated 10.5%, a slightly stronger impact than in 2010-11, the report said. The fastest decline in poverty ...
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