Policy brief examines the impact of social grants on work attitudes in South Africa, suggesting no dependency culture exists.
It is frequently argued that the expansion of South Africa's social grant system is leading to a 'culture of dependency'. This policy brief demonstrates that there is no evidence for this assertion. In fact, both unemployed South Africans and social grant recipients have a positive attitude towards work. There is also general support for extending the social security system to support the unemployed.
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Human Sciences Research Council (2026) studied this question.
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