Covid-19 lockdowns, income distribution, and food security: An analysis for South Africa

Absent vaccines and pharmaceutical interventions, the only tool available to mitigate its demographic effects is some measure of physical distancing, to reduce contagion by breaking social and economic contacts. Policy makers must balance the positive health effects of strong distancing measures, su...

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Autores principales: Arndt, Channing, Davies, Rob, Gabriel, Sherwin, Harris, Laurence, Makrelov, Konstantin, Robinson, Sherman, Anderson, Lillian
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Elsevier 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142615
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author Arndt, Channing
Davies, Rob
Gabriel, Sherwin
Harris, Laurence
Makrelov, Konstantin
Robinson, Sherman
Anderson, Lillian
author_browse Anderson, Lillian
Arndt, Channing
Davies, Rob
Gabriel, Sherwin
Harris, Laurence
Makrelov, Konstantin
Robinson, Sherman
author_facet Arndt, Channing
Davies, Rob
Gabriel, Sherwin
Harris, Laurence
Makrelov, Konstantin
Robinson, Sherman
Anderson, Lillian
author_sort Arndt, Channing
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Absent vaccines and pharmaceutical interventions, the only tool available to mitigate its demographic effects is some measure of physical distancing, to reduce contagion by breaking social and economic contacts. Policy makers must balance the positive health effects of strong distancing measures, such as lockdowns, against their economic costs, especially the burdens imposed on low income and food insecure households. The distancing measures deployed by South Africa impose large economic costs and have negative implications for the factor distribution of income. Labor with low education levels are much more strongly affected than labor with secondary or tertiary education. As a result, households with low levels of educational attainment and high dependence on labor income would experience an enormous real income shock that would clearly jeopardize the food security of these households. However, in South Africa, total incomes for low income households are significantly insulated by government transfer payments. From public health, income distribution and food security perspectives, the remarkably rapid and severe shocks imposed because of Covid-19 illustrate the value of having in place transfer policies that support vulnerable households in the event of ‘black swan’ type shocks.
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spelling CGSpace1426152025-12-08T10:11:39Z Covid-19 lockdowns, income distribution, and food security: An analysis for South Africa Arndt, Channing Davies, Rob Gabriel, Sherwin Harris, Laurence Makrelov, Konstantin Robinson, Sherman Anderson, Lillian models movement restrictions policies covid-19 households income distribution social protection disease prevention food security Absent vaccines and pharmaceutical interventions, the only tool available to mitigate its demographic effects is some measure of physical distancing, to reduce contagion by breaking social and economic contacts. Policy makers must balance the positive health effects of strong distancing measures, such as lockdowns, against their economic costs, especially the burdens imposed on low income and food insecure households. The distancing measures deployed by South Africa impose large economic costs and have negative implications for the factor distribution of income. Labor with low education levels are much more strongly affected than labor with secondary or tertiary education. As a result, households with low levels of educational attainment and high dependence on labor income would experience an enormous real income shock that would clearly jeopardize the food security of these households. However, in South Africa, total incomes for low income households are significantly insulated by government transfer payments. From public health, income distribution and food security perspectives, the remarkably rapid and severe shocks imposed because of Covid-19 illustrate the value of having in place transfer policies that support vulnerable households in the event of ‘black swan’ type shocks. 2020-09-01 2024-05-22T12:10:45Z 2024-05-22T12:10:45Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142615 en https://sa-tied.wider.unu.edu/article/impact-covid-19-south-african-economy-initial-analysis https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134455 Open Access Elsevier Arndt, Channing; Davies, Rob; Gabriel, Sherwin; Harris, Laurence; Makrelov, Konstantin; Robinson, Sherman; Anderson, Lilian; et al. 2020. Covid-19 lockdowns, income distribution, and food security: An analysis for South Africa. Global Food Security 26(September 2020): 100410. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2020.100410
spellingShingle models
movement restrictions
policies
covid-19
households
income distribution
social protection
disease prevention
food security
Arndt, Channing
Davies, Rob
Gabriel, Sherwin
Harris, Laurence
Makrelov, Konstantin
Robinson, Sherman
Anderson, Lillian
Covid-19 lockdowns, income distribution, and food security: An analysis for South Africa
title Covid-19 lockdowns, income distribution, and food security: An analysis for South Africa
title_full Covid-19 lockdowns, income distribution, and food security: An analysis for South Africa
title_fullStr Covid-19 lockdowns, income distribution, and food security: An analysis for South Africa
title_full_unstemmed Covid-19 lockdowns, income distribution, and food security: An analysis for South Africa
title_short Covid-19 lockdowns, income distribution, and food security: An analysis for South Africa
title_sort covid 19 lockdowns income distribution and food security an analysis for south africa
topic models
movement restrictions
policies
covid-19
households
income distribution
social protection
disease prevention
food security
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142615
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