South Africa to set official 'poverty line'

from The Mail and Guardian

Ben Maclennan

South Africa is to set an official "poverty line" as a tool to help measure progress in the fight against the problem, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said on Wednesday.

A poverty line establishes the income required for a basic minimal standard of living, enough for an adequate food supply and other necessities.

Adoption of a poverty line was one of the recommendations of a government-appointed committee of inquiry into social security when it delivered its report in 2002.

Manuel said Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) will pilot a national line in the second half of this year to allow for public comment and consultation before its design is finalised.

"I appeal to you to continue to advise us on the appropriateness and usefulness of this measure," he told MPs.

In the budget review policy document tabled along with his speech, the Treasury said understanding the extent and nature of poverty and inequality in South Africa is "the key to developing evidence-based policies and programmes for poverty reduction".

It said South Africa does not have an official poverty line.

"In the absence of such a standard, researchers, the government and others in civil society have adopted and used a large and incongruent set of lines, each based on its own assumptions and leading to varying conclusions.

"This has led many observers to see the absence of a poverty line as an obstacle to progressive social dialogue."

A common approach to constructing a poverty line, it said, is to estimate the cost of satisfying a minimum daily energy requirement, based on the food items that the poorest households consume, and some non-food necessities.

"There is no absolute or universal standard for poverty measurement," the review said.

"The acceptable minimum requirement for subsistence and dignity is in part a social construction that reflects custom and national values."

In a discussion document released along with the budget, Stats SA said it was inviting comment on a range of preliminary issues, including whether there should be a single line, or if several reference lines would better capture different degrees of poverty and deprivation.

It also asked whether a poverty line should represent an "absolute" level of household requirements, or should be a "relative" index that adapts to rising general living standards and income.

In 2005, just under half of all households in South Africa reported monthly spending of less than R800.

As a signatory to the millennium development goals of the United Nations, South Africa is committed to halving poverty by 2015.