Articles for September 2021
A redistributive approach to paying for a universal pension contribution subsidy
This is part 3 of a three-part series on pension fund coverage. The first article provides estimates of the size of the pension coverage gap, the second deals with the fiscal costs of co-funding universal coverage, and this article suggests how this might be paid for.
What would it cost to subsidize a universal pension plan?
A key objective of social security policy is to increase participation in contributory savings arrangements that provide funded incomes in retirement. This is the second of a three-part series on pension fund coverage. The first estimated the size of the pension coverage gap. In this article, the fiscal costs of co-funding universal coverage are examined. In the third part of the series, a tax reform that might pay for a pension plan subsidy is suggested.
What is the size and distribution of the pension contribution gap?
Out of 16 million employed people under the age of 65, about seven million contribute to pension or provident funds. Most of those who are not covered earn below the tax threshold, including workers in the informal and agricultural sectors. This first of a three-part series quantifies the pension coverage gap. The second and third parts will examine the fiscal costs of co-funding universal coverage and how this might be paid for.
A measure of relief: how the Covid-19 grants have dented poverty and inequality
The Covid-19 pandemic not only had devastating impacts on health when it hit South Africa in early 2020. It also caused severe economic hardship. What was its impact on poverty and inequality, and what were the effects of the COVID-19 social relief policies? This article, based on a UNU-WIDER/SA-TIED research paper that uses a static tax–benefit microsimulation model known as SAMOD, measures the incomes of people just before and after the first few months of lockdown and evaluates the relief policies put in place. The COVID-19 measures had a substantial effect in reducing poverty and inequality. Our results may lay the foundation for the role that longer-term social grant policies could play in effectively reducing poverty in South Africa.