The South African old-age social pension has been much studied by both researchers and policy makers, in part for the larger lessons that might be learned about behavioral responses to cash transfers in developing countries. In this paper, we quantify the labor supply responses of prime-aged...

The end of apartheid in South Africa brought with it the need to reform one component of the system of social assistance for poorer people – that dealing with support to women and children. Under the old regime, a State Maintenance Grant had been awarded by government to help mothers without...

Poverty is again at the center of debates about development. Dominant international institutions have committed themselves to addressing poverty, notably the World Bank, through its Poverty Reduction Strategies, and the United Nations, through the Millennium Development Goals. Discussion has...

The end of apartheid in South Africa brought with it the need to reform one component of the system of social assistance for poorer people – that dealing with support to women and children. Under the old regime, a State Maintenance Grant had been awarded by government to help mothers without...

Poverty is again at the center of debates about development. Dominant international institutions have committed themselves to addressing poverty, notably the World Bank, through its Poverty Reduction Strategies, and the United Nations, through the Millennium Development Goals. Discussion has...

We analyze longitudinal data from a demographic surveillance area (DSA) in KwaZulu-Natal, to examine the impact of parental death on children’s outcomes. We find significant differences in the impact of mothers’ and fathers’ deaths. The loss of a child’s mother is a strong predictor of...

We examine patterns of health seeking behavior prior to death among 1282 individuals who lived in the Umkhanyakude District of Northern KwaZulu-Natal. Information on the health care choices of these individuals, who died between January 2003 and July 2004, was gathered after their deaths from...

We analyze longitudinal data from a demographic surveillance area (DSA) in KwaZulu-Natal, to examine the impact of parental death on children’s outcomes. We find significant differences in the impact of mothers’ and fathers’ deaths. The loss of a child’s mother is a strong predictor of...

We examine patterns of health seeking behavior prior to death among 1282 individuals who lived in the Umkhanyakude District of Northern KwaZulu-Natal. Information on the health care choices of these individuals, who died between January 2003 and July 2004, was gathered after their deaths from...

Women have worse self-rated health and more hospitalization episodes than men from early adolescence to late middle age, but are less likely to die at each age. We use 14 years of data from the U.S. National Health Interview Survey to examine this paradox. Our results indicate that the...