Attitudes to work and social security in South Africa

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This paper presents findings from a module in the HSRC's 2006 South African Social Attitudes Survey that was designed by the Centre for the Analysis of South African Social Policy at the University of Oxford. Respondents were asked for their views on issues relating to the importance of work and the relationship between social grants and employment. The findings demonstrate a strong attachment to the labour market among the unemployed, support for more financial assistance for poor people including those who are unable to find work, and no evidence that social grants in South Africa foster a 'dependency culture'. The analysis presented in this monograph is part of an ongoing collaboration between the Human Sciences Research Council's Urban, Rural and Economic Development Research Programme (URED) and the Centre for the Analysis of South African Social Policy at the University of Oxford in relation to poverty and social policy in contemporary South Africa. URED uses a multi-disciplinary approach to promote integrated urban and rural development in southern Africa and across the continent. Poverty reduction is the unifying, overarching theme and purpose of URED's work, and the programme's activities coalesce around the themes of: poverty and rural development; infrastructure and service delivery; urban change and migration; and human development, tourism, and climate change.

List of tables and figures
Acknowledgements
Acronyms

1. Introduction

2. Methodology

3. Findings

• The importance of work
• Seeking employment
• What happens if you lose your job?
• Grants for unemployed people
• Support for the state’s role in income maintenance/comprehensive social security
• Social grants as a government priority
• Are social grants enough to live on?
• Deserving or undeserving poor? A culture of welfare dependency?
• Relationship between work and grants
• Lone parents

4. Conclusion

Contributors

References

Michael Noble is Professor of Social Policy and Director of the Centre for the Analysis of South African Social Policy (CASASP) in the Department of Social Policy and Social Work at the University of Oxford, England.

Phakama Ntshongwana is Research Officer at CASASP, within the Department of Social Policy and Social Work, at the University of Oxford, England.

Rebecca Surender is University Lecturer in the Department of Social Policy and Social Work at the University of Oxford, England.