Michael Noble, Phakama Ntshongwana & Rebecca Surender Attitudes to work and social security in South Africa Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za Commissioned by the Urban Rural and Economic Development Research Programme of the Human Sciences Research Council and prepared by the Centre for the Analysis of South African Social Policy, University of Oxford. Published by HSRC Press Private Bag X9182, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa www.hsrcpress.ac.za First published 2008 ISBN 978-0-7969-2219-9 © 2008 Human Sciences Research Council Copyedited by Karen van Eden Typeset by Simon van Gend Print management by comPress Distributed in Africa by Blue Weaver Tel: +27 (0) 21 701 4477; Fax: +27 (0) 21 701 7302 www.oneworldbooks.com Distributed in Europe and the United Kingdom by Eurospan Distribution Services (EDS) Tel: +44 (0) 20 7240 0856; Fax: +44 (0) 20 7379 0609 www.eurospanbookstore.com Distributed in North America by Independent Publishers Group (IPG) Call toll-free: (800) 888 4741; Fax: +1 (312) 337 5985 www.ipgbook.com Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za  List of tables and figures iv Acknowledgements v Acronyms vi     3.1 The importance of work 3 3.2 Seeking employment 5 3.3 What happens if you lose your job? 9 3.4 Grants for unemployed people 10 3.5 Support for the state’s role in income maintenance/comprehensive social security 11 3.6 Social grants as a government priority 11 3.7 Are social grants enough to live on? 13 3.8 Deserving or undeserving poor? A culture of welfare dependency? 14 3.9 Relationship between work and grants 15 3.10 Lone parents 16    Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za iv  Tables Table 3.1: ‘I feel alright about being out of work because so many other people are out of work too’ 3 Table 3.2: ‘A person can get satisfaction out of life without having a job’ 4 Table 3.3: ‘Once you’ve got a job, it is important to hang onto it even if you do not really like it’ 4 Table 3.4: Views about the role of paid work 5 Table 3.5: ‘If you were unemployed or are currently unemployed, how willing do you think you would be to get training for a different job?’ 7 Table 3.6: ‘How willing would you be to move to a different area to find a job?’ 8 Table 3.7: ‘It’s worth my accepting a job with a low wage now if I can improve my position in the long run’ 9 Table 3.8: ‘People who can’t get work deserve help in the form of social grants’ 10 Table 3.9: ‘Who do you think should mainly be responsible for ensuring that people have enough to live on in the following circumstances?’ 11 Table 3.10: Priorities for extra government spending 12 Table 3.11: ‘Suppose the government had to choose one of the following options. Which do you think it should choose?’ 12 Table 3.12: ‘The government should spend more money on social grants for the poor, even if it leads to higher taxes’ 13 Table 3.13: Should social grant amounts be raised? 13 Table 3.14: ‘Most people on social grants desperately need the help’ 14 Table 3.15: ‘Many people who receive social grants do not really deserve any help’ 15 Table 3.16: ‘The Child Support Grant is too high and discourages people from finding jobs’ 15 Table 3.17: ‘Payment of social grants by the government encourages people to stop helping each other’ 16 Table 3.18: ‘What should a lone mother do if she has children under school age?’ 16 Table 3.19: ‘Should government provide money to help with childcare?’ 17 Figures Figure 3.1: Work-seeking strategies of the workless 6 Figure 3.2: Obstacles to finding employment 7 Figure 3.3: Reasons for moving in last five years 8 Figure 3.4: ‘If you did not have a job, what would you live on?’ 10 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za v  The Human Sciences Research Council is gratefully acknowledged for including the module upon which this analysis is based within the South African Social Attitudes Survey 2006. Gemma Wright, Professor Jonathan Bradshaw, Dr Charles Meth and Benjamin Roberts are thanked for their comments on earlier drafts of this paper. Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za vi  CSG Child Support Grant EPWP Expanded Public Works Programme HSRC Human Sciences Research Council LFS Labour Force Survey SASAS South African Social Attitudes Survey Stats SA Statistics South Africa UIF Unemployment Insurance Fund Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za 1  Introduction In September 2006, unemployment in South Africa (using the official definition) stood at 25.5% of the economically active population. If we include ‘discouraged workers’ 1 the figure is 36.2% (Stats SA, 2007). The rate of unemployment whether ‘official’ or ‘actual’ remains for all commentators unacceptably high (e.g. Meth, 2006). For those people of working age who are not in work, there is relatively little provision available through the social security system in the form of cash transfers. The social insurance pillar of the South African social security system is at present very limited. The main provision is the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), which provides very limited cover and only to those who have recently been in work (Committee of Inquiry into a Comprehensive Social Security System for South Africa, 2002). Currently it covers fewer than 10% of workers. The social assistance pillar though relatively extensive, nevertheless provides nothing for able-bodied people of working age. Grants exist for low-income disabled people (Disability Grant), children with low-income carers (Child Support Grant), low-income older people (Older Person’s Grant), disabled children (Care Dependency Grant), and fostered children (Foster Child Grant) (Department of Social Development, 2005). For able-bodied people of working age – the unemployed – there is a significant hole in the safety net. Such people are provided with only limited social protection through measures such as the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) and in dire circumstances may be able to claim distress relief through Grant in Aid. There is plenty of evidence that social grants going into the household are pooled to help all members make ends meet (e.g. Moller and Ferreira, 2003) but there is no dedicated grant – conditional or otherwise – for the support of the unemployed themselves. Despite the absence of direct social assistance cover for unemployed people, and despite persuasive scholarly argument to the contrary (e.g. Meth, 2004), there is continuing media and political concern that social grants might act as a disincentive to the unemployed in seeking and obtaining work and create a ‘dependency culture’. In the context of these debates this study aims to obtain evidence about whether such disincentive effects exist, that is, the extent to which social grants discourage recipients from engaging in employment activities and foster a culture of dependency. The study explores the views of South African citizens about paid work, the social grants system, and the relationship between social grants and paid work. 1 See Stats SA (2006) for definitions of ‘official unemployment’ and ‘discouraged workers’. Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za  2  Methodology This analysis is based on data from a module, which was included in the Human Sciences Research Council’s 2006 South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS). The questions in the module were in part informed by a parallel qualitative project that is being undertaken by the authors on behalf of the National Department of Social Development under a DfID project (Surender et al., 2007). 2 The analysis in this article is largely bivariate. 3 Differences in attitudes between population groups, 4 those defining themselves as ‘poor’, ‘just getting by’ and ‘non-poor’, and between the unemployed and the wider population were all explored. Only differences that were significant (p< 0.05) have been reported. In order to distinguish the ‘poor’ from the ‘non-poor’, an investigation was undertaken into the banded household income variable in the data. Unfortunately, nearly 25% of respondents either refused to answer the question or reported that they didn’t know or were uncertain of the household income. This meant that it was not possible to produce a reliable poverty indicator using equivalised household income. 5 There is, however a question that asks the respondent: ‘Would you say that you and your family are … 1. Wealthy; 2. Very comfortable; 3. Reasonably comfortable; 4. Just getting along; 5. Poor; or 6. Very poor’. For analysis purposes, categories 1, 2 and 3 were combined to form ‘non- poor’, category 4 remained as is, and categories 5 and 6 were combined to form ‘poor’. Our category of ‘workless’ includes both the ‘official unemployed’ and ‘discouraged workers’ and the economically inactive who are of working age (i.e. 18 to 59 years inclusive for women, and 18 to 64 years inclusive for men). In some analyses the unemployed (using the expanded definition) is used as an analytical category. When examining attitudes to social grants and their relationship to work, additional analysis was conducted to look at differences in attitude between those respondents in households in receipt of grants and other households. Statistically significant differences have been reported. Since part of the aim of this analysis is to begin to assess whether the ‘poor’ or the ‘workless’ have values that are significantly different from the ‘non-poor’/‘those in work’, and in particular to explore whether these values show that the ‘poor’/‘workless’ exhibit a detachment from the labour market and display other characteristics of a dependency culture, most of the analysis is undertaken using these variables. 2 This SASAS module was funded by a separate pump-priming grant from the University of Oxford. 3 Multivariate analysis of this module will be undertaken at a later stage. 4 Stats SA definition is used. 5 In due course income will be imputed for those who refused/didn’t know using Sequential Regression Multiple Imputation. See http://www.casasp.ox.ac.uk/docs/Multiple%20Imputation.pdf. Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za 3  Findings 3.1 The importance of work The dependency culture thesis (in simplified form) is predicated on the emergence of communities where the adults have little or no attachment to the labour market, where paid work is not valued and where individuals are content, in the long term, to derive their income from state transfers (Mead, 1992; Murray, 1984; Murray, 1996). A ‘culture of dependency’ emerges, it is argued, and this is transmitted intergenerationally. Children, it is hypothesised, see no working role models and observe a contented reliance on state transfers and so inherit this tendency to ‘dependency’. The individuals exhibiting the dependency culture are said to be a moral ‘underclass’ (Auletta, 1982; Murray, 1984; Murray, 1986). In the US, where these notions re-emerged 6 in the 1980s, the existence of an underclass with different values has been refuted by a considerable weight of evidence (Jencks, 1992; Jencks and Pederson, 1991). In the UK, the evidence is similarly weighted against any significant lack of attachment of the unemployed to the labour market (Gallie, 1988); or the emergence of a dependency culture (Morris, 1995; Walker, 1996). Earlier work had refuted the idea of intergenerational transmission of negative values relating to motivation to work (Brown and Madge, 1982; Rutter and Madge, 1976). In order to explore issues surrounding the dependency culture thesis in a South African context it is a useful starting point to consider the extent to which paid work is valued across South African society. Table 3.1: ‘I feel alright about being out of work because so many other people are out of work too’ African Coloured Indian/Asian White All Strongly agree/Agree 11.4% 19.4% 10.8% 8.9% 11.8% Neither 0.7% 14.3% 0.4% 9.2% 1.7% Disagree/Strongly disagree 87.6% 65.1% 86.0% 75.6% 86.0% Undecided 0.3% 1.2% 2.8% 6.4% 0.6% Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% Source: SASAS 2006, Group analysed: Unemployed (by population group) In the first instance we examined the extent to which paid work conferred dignity on those in employment. In response to the statement ‘A person has to have a job to have dignity’, the majority – 67% – either agreed strongly (26.5%) or agreed (40.6%). Of the 22% who disagreed, there were no significant differences by population group. We might have expected that those without jobs having adapted to their circumstances may have held differing views. However, we did not find that the workless 7 had significantly different views than the non-workless. All those not in paid work were asked to comment 6 The notions of ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ poor have a much older history dating back at least to the Elizabethan poor law in England (1605) but probably to various laws enacted in the 14 th century following the Black Death, e.g. Statute of Labourers, 1388. 7 These are respondents of working age (men: 18 to 64 years; women: 18 to 59 years) who indicated that they were ‘not working for pay’. They will therefore include the ‘official’ unemployed, the economically inactive and the discouraged workless. Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za  4 on the proposition that ‘I feel alright about being out of work because so many other people are out of work too’. Notably, those without jobs were adamant that they did not feel adjusted to the position of being without a job. As can be see from Table 3.1, 86% of the unemployed disagreed with the proposition. There were significant differences between population groups with 87.6% of African people disagreeing compared with 65.1% of the coloured population and 75.6% of the white population. 8 All unemployed people agreed or strongly agreed (86%) that they got very bored having no work to do. This view was most apparent among Africans (87.6%) and weakest among the white group (64.4%). Those in paid work were specifically asked to comment on statements relating to their view of work and to the role of work as an agent of social integration. First, in response to the statement ‘a person can get satisfaction out of life without having a job’ 57.1% strongly disagreed or disagreed (Table 3.2). Significantly, those regarding themselves as ‘poor’ or who were ‘just getting by’ disagreed more strongly than the ‘non-poor’. Table 3.2: ‘A person can get satisfaction out of life without having a job’ Non-poor Just get by Poor All Strongly agree/Agree 33.7% 30.3% 30.1% 31.3% Neither 16.2% 8.1% 8.8% 10.8% Strongly disagree/Disagree 49.6% 61.3% 59.8% 57.1% Undecided 0.5% 0.5% 1.4% 0.8% Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% Source: SASAS 2006, Group analysed: All respondents (by self-assessed poverty) Second, a very high percentage of people working for pay felt it was important to ‘hang on to a job’ even if they didn’t like it (Table 3.3): Table 3.3: ‘Once you’ve got a job, it is important to hang onto it even if you do not really like it’ Non-poor Just get by Poor All Strongly agree/Agree 72.6% 80.1% 82.4% 78.4% Neither 13.2% 8.2% 7.7% 9.6% Strongly disagree/Disagree 13.8% 11.3% 9.5% 11.5% Undecided 0.5% 0.5% 0.4% 0.5% Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% Source: SASAS 2006, Group analysed: All respondents (by self-assessed poverty) The ‘non-poor’ population were least likely to agree (strongly or otherwise) with the sentiment but nevertheless a large majority (72.6%) still held the view. The poor appeared to demonstrate a greater attachment to the labour market (judged by this indicator): 82.4% 8 Further analysis will be undertaken to explore the group who strongly agreed/agreed to this statement. This group may be capturing people who are experiencing extreme alienation. Conversely it may be capturing people who have become resigned to the lack of any prospect of obtaining a job. Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za [...]... to get work The majority (especially Africans) would be willing to relocate in order to find work Indeed, a proportion had relocated in the past five years, and the main reason for this was to find work Looking at 18 those who had moved, nearly half were now in paid work Additionally it was interesting to note that people were willing to take a low-paid job if it was a stepping stone to something better,... importance attached to being in work, it is important to examine the barriers the workless experience in moving into work As Figure 3.2 shows, for those stating that they are seeking work the largest perceived obstacle to employment was that there were no or too few jobs available.11 10 In SASAS those not currently working for pay were asked ‘Do you continuously look for work? ’, whereas in the LFS respondents... can do to affect ‘demand side’ factors associated with wider macroeconomic issues, one thing they can do is to move in order to find work Looking at just the unemployed population (Table 3.6), over 81% of the African population would be very or quite willing to move to find work A smaller percentage of other population groups (between 52% and 54%) would be prepared to do so Table 3.6: ‘How willing would... statements to consider, all relating to the social integration nature of work: These were: ‘I work because working is the normal thing to do’ ‘I work because it gives me a sense of belonging to the community’ Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za ‘I work because in my job I meet people and don’t feel so isolated’ We see from Table 3.4 that in all these areas, there is agreement about the notion that work. .. revisited: The ANC’s unemployment and poverty reduction goals’, in H Bhorat and R Kanbur (eds) Poverty and Policy in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Cape Town: HSRC Press Millar, J and Rowlingson, K (2001) Lone Parents, Employment and Social Policy, Bristol: Policy Press Moller, V and Ferreira M (2003) ‘Getting by… Benefits of non-contributory pension income for older South African households’, available... Unemployment and Aids, CSSR Working Paper No 14, Cape Town: University of Cape Town Rutter, M and Madge, N (1976) Cycles of Disadvantage, London: Heinemann Statistics South Africa (2007) Labour Force Survey September 2006, Pretoria: Statistics South Africa Surender R., Ntshongwana, P., Noble, M., and Wright, G (2007) Employment and Social Security: A Qualitative Study of Attitudes towards the Labour Market and. .. importance of putting in place effective training programmes The data suggest that there was a great willingness to train to get the necessary skills and this was particularly evident within the African community (Table 3.5) Table 3.5: ‘If you were unemployed or are currently unemployed, how willing do you think you would be to get training for a different job?’ African Coloured Very willing 60.3% 59.3%... The Inclusive Society? Social Exclusion and New Labour, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Lister, R (1996) ‘Introduction: In Search of the ‘Underclass’’, in R Lister (ed.) Charles Murray and the Underclass: The Developing Debate, London: IEA Mead, L M (1992) The new politics of poverty: The nonworking poor in America, New York City: Harper Collins Meth, C (2004) ‘Ideology and Social Policy: ‘Handouts’ and. .. afford to be less ‘dependent’ on a particular job 5 are looking for work (around 53% of the total unemployed) This is probably explained by the somewhat weaker test in SASAS than in the LFS.10 It is instructive to examine the work- seeking initiatives taken by those who state they are looking for work The strategies are shown in Figure 3.1 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za Figure 3.1: Work- seeking... those who think there should be an obligation for a lone mother to work in order to economically support her children, those who think there should be an obligation for single parents to look after very young children, and those who think it should be up to the lone parent herself to decide (see Millar and Rowlingson (2001) for a discussion on these positions) To explore this in the South African context . getting a job in the area. Given the importance attached to being in work, it is important to examine the barriers the workless experience in moving into. specifically asked to comment on statements relating to their view of work and to the role of work as an agent of social integration. First, in response to the statement