Public Expenditure and Poverty Alleviation in the South African Labour Market

Abstract: Using the October Household Survey of 1995 (OHS95), this paper seeks to understand the determinants of indigence in the South African labour market. To this end the study presents a description of the labour market, focusing on how covariates such as race, gender, education and location help explain the poverty observed in the labour market. A key innovation of the paper is the application of traditionally household poverty measures to individuals in the labour market. Rural labour markets also surface as a key component of poverty in the labour force. As far as possible, the analysis compared in-migrants to non-migrants and intra-Gauteng migrants in order to provide insight into special benefits or challenges that in-migrant households may present. The Labour Force Survey module on migrant labour allowed the profiling of migrant labourers and the approximation of economic links between Gauteng and other provinces as represented by remittances.