The relationship between spatial inequality and attitudes to inequality in South Africa

This project was a collaboration between researchers from the Centre for the Analysis of South African Social Policy (CASASP) at the University of Oxford and the South African Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC).

The main aim of the project was to investigate whether citizens' attitudes to inequality in South Africa are associated with their experience of inequality at the local level. Analyses were undertaken using two currently under-utilised micro-datasets in South Africa. Attitudinal perspectives on inequality were explored using the nationally representative South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS). The unequal spatial distribution of poverty and deprivation was explored using the South African Indices of Multiple Deprivation (SAIMD) which are derived from the 2001 Census and the 2007 Community Survey (CS 2007).

The analysis of these microdata was used to gain a better appreciation of the spatial patterns of poverty, deprivation and inequality, the nature and distribution of attitudes to economic inequality and redistribution, and importantly the relationship between them. The project also built quantitative data analysis skills among social researchers in South Africa. The findings were used to promote discussion about policies and programmatic interventions to address deprivation, poverty and inequality.

Former DSPI Principal Investigator: David McLennan
Funded by: International Development Research Centre

Completed: 2015