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The primary objective of this research paper was to investigate the determinants of poverty in South Africa in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. To accomplish this, the study employed data from STATS SA collected in 2021, calculating the poverty status of households based on the national poverty line, and generating a binary variable comprising two categories: poor and non-poor. The research employed descriptive, cross-tabulation analysis and binary logistic regression models to ascertain the associations between selected independent variables (gender, age, household size, population group income, and province) and the dependent variable (poverty status). The findings demonstrated that 62% of the households surveyed were living below the upper-bound poverty line, with 49% classified as poor based on the lower-bound poverty line. Furthermore, the regression analysis revealed that gender, age, and income were significant predictors of poverty status, with females, younger household heads, and those with lower incomes being more likely to be poor. The paper concludes with a set of recommendations for the South African government to mitigate poverty, such as investing in education and skills development, promoting job creation, expanding social protection programs, and enhancing access to fundamental services such as water and sanitation.

Marriage, despite its evolving role in society, has for generations played a fundamental role in shaping social relations. This paper examines household income by gender and the marital status of the head of household, with a focus on assessing the average total incomes for these different groups. The significance of household income in determining a household's poverty status cannot be overstated. While the use of multidimensional measures of poverty, such as the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) and other household resources, has increased, it remains true that these measures are directly influenced by the household's income level. Therefore, household income continues to be the primary determinant of poverty. Analyzing income dynamics by gender provides insight into broader household issues, such as gender relations and the significance of marital status in the 21st century. The study employed Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression and descriptive analysis to derive the results. The findings indicate that married individuals have higher household incomes compared to all other groups. Notably, never-married single females have the lowest income among these groups. The analysis also reveals that, on average, males have higher incomes than females within the same marital status categories. These results confirm that both gender and marital status continue to influence household income levels. The policy implication is that, while marriage cannot be regulated, gender disparities can be addressed to ensure that individuals with the same qualifications and experience receive equal pay. To address these disparities, it is recommended that policies focus on promoting equal pay for equal work and enhancing women's economic empowerment, particularly for vulnerable groups. Supporting cohabiting households through legal and financial protections will also contribute to improved economic stability. These measures aim to reduce income disparities associated with gender and marital status, ultimately fostering greater social equity and economic growth.

The understanding of housing insecurity in the context of poverty reduction remains an important area, especially in the conceptualisation emanating from the animal with multiple head metaphor. Poverty is argued to be viewed as an animal with multiple heads in its multidimensional conceptualisation. We contend that a misdiagnosis in the Multidimensional poverty index (MPI) recognises housing insecurity as a leg of living standards (the other two in the MPI are education and health). The argument that housing should be considered as a dimension or a head, according to the Household Housing Insecurity Index (HHII), emanates from the basic needs understanding, where housing stands among food and health, even higher than education. This paper first presents the Household Housing Insecurity Index (HHII) in the context of multidimensional poverty. Then it uses components of the HHII with available data from Statistics South Africa's general household survey to analyse the housing insecurity profile of households in South Africa collected during the covid-19 pandemic. This helps to paint an initial picture of the impact of the pandemic. Initial because there are still lagged effects unfolding beyond the immediate short-run implications. The Regression analysis results show that total household income, the material used for the construction of the house, crowding, gender and population group are significant predictors of household housing insecurity.

Prior to China’s reform, the poverty count surpassed that of the whole African continent. However, within five years, the Chinese could reverse this narrative. Between 1980 and 2020, China lifted a staggering 800 million citizens out of poverty. By February 2021, the Chinese declared that the war on ‘absolute poverty’ had been won when measured using the standard equivalence of $2.30 a day per person. In consonance with the Chinese feat on poverty, the study examines the strategy adopted in defeating poverty and highlights fundamental lessons that rural developmental stakeholders in South Africa may embrace in achieving a similar feat. To achieve this aim, the study adopted a literature review alongside a desktop analysis in deducing critical lessons from the Chinese war on poverty that may apply to rural developmental stakeholders in South Africa. Hence, an extensive assemblage of earlier studies on Chinese poverty alleviation strategies was looked into systematically. The study highlights potential challenges the South African rural developmental stakeholders may face in an attempt to replicate the Chinese stratagem. The study thus concludes with practical steps rural developmental stakeholders in South Africa may adopt to create viable rural spaces devoid of egregious forms of poverty.

This paper analyses the impact of economic globalisation on income inequality in Botswana, emphasising both direct and indirect transmission mechanisms. The study utilises annual time-series data from 1990 to 2023, employing the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model and the Toda–Yamamoto Distributed Lag (TYDL) Granger causality method to examine the interrelations among economic globalisation, trade openness, inflation, economic growth, and income inequality. The results indicate a consistent long-term link among the variables, wherein economic globalisation diminishes income disparity, whilst broader globalisation and trade openness likely to intensify it. The causation findings indicate that both economic globalisation and globalisation directly impact income disparity, while globalisation also indirectly influences inequality via inflation. Real GDP per capita indirectly affects inequality via globalisation, while exports directly contribute to inequality. The study indicates that while economic globalisation fosters economic growth and integration, its advantages are inequitably allocated. It advocates for inclusive economic globalisation policies, targeted fiscal redistribution, financial inclusion, and export diversification to guarantee equitable and sustainable growth in Botswana.

This paper analyses the impact of economic globalisation on income inequality in Botswana, emphasising both direct and indirect transmission mechanisms. The study utilises annual time-series data from 1990 to 2023, employing the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model and the Toda–Yamamoto Distributed Lag (TYDL) Granger causality method to examine the interrelations among economic globalisation, trade openness, inflation, economic growth, and income inequality. The results indicate a consistent long-term link among the variables, wherein economic globalisation diminishes income disparity, whilst broader globalisation and trade openness likely to intensify it. The causation findings indicate that both economic globalisation and globalisation directly impact income disparity, while globalisation also indirectly influences inequality via inflation. Real GDP per capita indirectly affects inequality via globalisation, while exports directly contribute to inequality. The study indicates that while economic globalisation fosters economic growth and integration, its advantages are inequitably allocated. It advocates for inclusive economic globalisation policies, targeted fiscal redistribution, financial inclusion, and export diversification to guarantee equitable and sustainable growth in Botswana.

Almost half of South Africa's population still lives in poverty, despite the abolishment of the oppressive apartheid regime since April 1994. The majority of the populace is impoverished and unable to enjoy sustainable life and progress. Therefore, this paper is here by analysing poverty in post-apartheid South Africa by looking at what still causing poverty after so many years of freedom and how poverty effects the communities and what solutions can be adopted overcome the situation. A qualitative research methodology was used to collect data. Particularly, a systematic literature review was used. The researchers have reviewed published articles and reports about poverty. Based on the findings it is evident that poverty in South Africa is caused by challenges such as pandemics, poor health and education systems, climate change, economic inequality etc. Therefore, the paper recommends various actions to be taken such as striving to enhance economic output.

Since the conclusion of apartheid in 1994, South Africa has witnessed notable economic growth; however, poverty and income inequality continue to be widespread issues. Despite economic growth, poverty and income inequality remain prevalent, with millions of South Africans living below the poverty line and encountering substantial obstacles to economic opportunities. This research examines the connections among economic growth, poverty alleviation, and income inequality in South Africa, utilising data from 1993 to 2023. This study employs various econometric models, specifically Vector Error Correction (VECM), Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL), and Generalised Method of Moments (GMM), to examine the relationships among economic growth, poverty reduction, and income inequality in South Africa. The findings indicate that economic growth has a positive effect on poverty reduction, while simultaneously exerting a negative influence on income inequality. The research indicates that employment and access to electricity are essential determinants in alleviating poverty and income inequality. This study recommends that policymakers prioritise investments in education, job training, and infrastructure development, especially in rural areas, to foster inclusive economic growth and mitigate poverty and income inequality. Policymakers should enact measures to enhance electricity access and foster employment opportunities within the formal sector.

Marriage, despite its evolving role in society, has for generations played a fundamental role in shaping social relations. This paper examines household income by gender and the marital status of the head of household, with a focus on assessing the average total incomes for these different groups. The significance of household income in determining a household's poverty status cannot be overstated. While the use of multidimensional measures of poverty, such as the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) and other household resources, has increased, it remains true that these measures are directly influenced by the household's income level. Therefore, household income continues to be the primary determinant of poverty. Analyzing income dynamics by gender provides insight into broader household issues, such as gender relations and the significance of marital status in the 21st century. The study employed Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression and descriptive analysis to derive the results. The findings indicate that married individuals have higher household incomes compared to all other groups. Notably, never-married single females have the lowest income among these groups. The analysis also reveals that, on average, males have higher incomes than females within the same marital status categories. These results confirm that both gender and marital status continue to influence household income levels. The policy implication is that, while marriage cannot be regulated, gender disparities can be addressed to ensure that individuals with the same qualifications and experience receive equal pay. To address these disparities, it is recommended that policies focus on promoting equal pay for equal work and enhancing women's economic empowerment, particularly for vulnerable groups. Supporting cohabiting households through legal and financial protections will also contribute to improved economic stability. These measures aim to reduce income disparities associated with gender and marital status, ultimately fostering greater social equity and economic growth.

Income inequality is a pervasive problem in South Africa and particularly affects the Eastern Cape, where poverty levels remain high despite several efforts to address this societal issue. The datasets from 1499 households used for this study, were extracted from the 2021 South African General Household Survey. This study thus examined the distributional pattern of households’ income inequality in Eastern Cape, South Africa, through the use of exploratory data analysis and application of regression-based decomposition of inequality. The EDA results revealed that relatively older households are more concentrated than those young people, female-headed households were also predominant in the study area, while the majority of the households are Black South Africans. The magnitude of the monetary variables’ departure from the mean inferred clear evidence of a widened households’ income disparity or inequality in the study area. The decomposition analysis indicated the contributions of various socioeconomic factors to income inequality. The findings from the regression-based decomposition of inequality found household size, access to basic infrastructure services, possession of assets, internet communication facilities, and households’ population group, as the major drivers of the households’ income inequality in the province, while livelihood diversity has a relatively moderate proportionate contribution. On the other hand, factors such as age and gender of the household head, as well as households’ involvements in agriculture have a minor effect on the households’ income inequality. This paper finally concludes that the relative contributions of each factor contributing to inequality were deemed important for designing effective policy-relevant interventions which can be used to promote economic growth and to address this persistent challenge of income inequality in society.