Demographic and poverty dynamics in an African population with high AIDS mortality and implications for social policy
Lead Research Organisation:
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Department Name: Epidemiology and Population Health
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Publications
Carter MR
(2007)
The economic impacts of premature adult mortality: panel data evidence from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
in AIDS (London, England)
Eyal, Katherine
(2010)
Female labour force participation and the child support grant in South Africa
Garbero, Alessandra
(2008)
Producing poverty estimates with missing data and measurement error in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Garbero, Alessandra
(2010)
HIV-related deaths and economic shocks : does survivors' consumption recover over time in Kwazulu-Natal?
Knight L
(2013)
The South African disability grant: Influence on HIV treatment outcomes and household well-being in KwaZulu-Natal
in Development Southern Africa
| Description | The project investigated the impact of deaths of working-age adults on household welfare and the determinants of differential vulnerability and resilience. It analysed two longitudinal studies from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, where mortality has risen massively since the late 1990s and most working-age adult deaths are now from AIDS. Because both studies have collected demographic and economic data from households at least three times, we could use more sophisticated statistical methods than earlier studies to tease out the consequences of these deaths. The effects of adult deaths vary according to the characteristics of dead person, their household, and their cause of death. Poverty in South Africa is linked closely to unemployment and, in poor households whose income derives largely from pensions and welfare grants to children, the death of working-age adults often benefits per capita consumption. By contrast, in better-off households working-age deaths reduce consumption, with their impact being largest when young adults die or the death is from AIDS. But even better-off households hit by deaths regain their earlier standard of living within a few years. |
| Exploitation Route | The statistical models that we used had not been applied to this kind of research question before and are of more general value. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education,Healthcare |
| Description | The project has advanced study of three topics. It forms part of a revisionist body of work (including that of Gillespie, Seeley et al., Grimm, and others) finding that the medium-term impact of AIDS and other adult deaths on households is less severe than was feared. Second, it contributes to research revealing that, although being orphaned has severe consequences for children, the primary mechanism involved is not heightened poverty. Third, our research on welfare policy and AIDS in South Africa adds to growing evidence that the government's major fiscal commitment to social grants has been of substantial benefit to poor households. Thus, our research identified two key areas in which government action could mitigate the misery caused by AIDS in South Africa. First, targeted support services would benefit orphans more than additional financial support. Second, making it easier for people living with AIDS to access Disability Grants - or a new Illness Grant - would both improve their treatment outcomes and greatly reduce hardship in their households. These arguments have influenced the policy debate in South Africa, if not yet government policy itself. More generally, our findings contributed to the mainstreaming of HIV and AIDS issues across government, and particularly in the Social Protection and Community Development Cluster of Ministries, after the lack of attention that they received from President Mbeki's administration. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2010 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education,Healthcare |
| Impact Types | Societal,Economic |
| Description | Adult deaths, poverty dynamics and child welfare in KwaZulu-Natal : evidence from a household panel survey |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | AIDS, Demographic and Poverty Trends (ADaPT) / Strengthening Analytical Capacity and Evidence Based Decision Making (SACED) research dissemination workshop. Co-sponsored by the Department of Social Development (DSD), Government of South Africa; School of Development Studies (SDS), University of KwaZulu-Natal; and Department of Population Studies (PSD), London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Section not completed |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009,2010 |
| Description | Assessing the changing dynamics of child grants in South Africa in the context of high HIV/AIDS mortality : a projection to 2015 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | AIDS, Demographic and Poverty Trends (ADaPT) / Strengthening Analytical Capacity and Evidence Based Decision Making (SACED) research dissemination workshop. Co-sponsored by the Department of Social Development (DSD), Government of South Africa; School of Development Studies (SDS), University of KwaZulu-Natal; and Department of Population Studies (PSD), London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Section not completed |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | Deaths in the family : AIDS, demography and poverty in Africa |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Professorial Inaugural Lecture Section not completed |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2008 |
| Description | Female labour force participation and the child support grant in South Africa |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Presented at the third meeting of the ERSA Public Economics Workgroup Section not completed |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| URL | http://www.econrsa.org/papers/Eyal%20and%20Woolard%202010.pdf |
| Description | HIV-related deaths and economic shocks : does survivors' consumption recover over time in KwaZulu-Natal? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | AIDS, Demographic and Poverty Trends (ADaPT) / Strengthening Analytical Capacity and Evidence Based Decision Making (SACED) research dissemination workshop. Co-sponsored by the Department of Social Development (DSD), Government of South Africa; School of Development Studies (SDS), University of KwaZulu-Natal; and Department of Population Studies (PSD), London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Section not completed |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | The role of social grants in mitigating the impacts of HIV and AIDS-related illness in rural South African households |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | AIDS, Demographic and Poverty Trends (ADaPT) / Strengthening Analytical Capacity and Evidence Based Decision Making (SACED) research dissemination workshop. Co-sponsored by the Department of Social Development (DSD), Government of South Africa; School of Development Studies (SDS), University of KwaZulu-Natal; and Department of Population Studies (PSD), London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Section not completed |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |