A National Coalition of some 60 agencies has sought to persuade Government that the level of poverty and the structural nature of unemployment (few are cycling through unemployment on the way to another job) are now such that another approach to welfare is needed. A report was submitted some months ago. The current welfare system, which ‘targets’ beneficiaries and provides no cover to all those between 8 and 65, only reduces the poverty gap (the missing income) of the 22 million poor by a qua...read more
A National Coalition of some 60 agencies has sought to persuade Government that the level of poverty and the structural nature of unemployment (few are cycling through unemployment on the way to another job) are now such that another approach to welfare is needed. A report was submitted some months ago. The current welfare system, which ‘targets’ beneficiaries and provides no cover to all those between 8 and 65, only reduces the poverty gap (the missing income) of the 22 million poor by a quarter. The proposal, adding a monthly Basic Income Grant (BIG) of, say, R100 per month, to all citizens including children, will relieve three quarters of that gap, pushing 6 million above poverty when poverty is defined as R400 per month.
