Poverty Traps and Structural Poverty in South Africa: Reassessing the Evidence from KwaZulu-Natal, 1993 to 2004

Abstract

In this chapter panel data are used to investigate chronic and structural poverty in South Africa. The KwaZulu- Natal Income Dynamics Survey (KIDS) spans the first decade of the post- apartheid era, with the first wave having been collected just prior to the transition to democracy and the third wave in 2004. Using the first two waves of KIDS (1993 and 1998), Carter and May (2001) suggest the existence of an asset- based poverty threshold in South Africa as a position from which an escape from poverty may be impossible notwithstanding the significant structural changes introduced during the fi rst half of this period. Also using these data, Woolard and Klasen (2005) identify four types of poverty traps that might account for this: large initial household size, poor initial education, poor initial asset endowment and poor initial employment access.