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Implications of COVID-19 Lockdowns on Household Hunger and Food Insecurity in South Africa's Formal and Informal Sector: Evidence from Recent Survey Data

Ionut, Laura LU (2021) EKHS21 20211
Department of Economic History
Abstract
During the strict COVID-19 lockdowns imposed by many countries around the world, most of the vital
economic activities were stopped, causing severe socio-economic disruptions worldwide. Likewise,
South Africa went into a strict lockdown on the 27th of March, triggering massive loss of earnings and
jobs for numerous workers. Despite the rapid government response to the difficult situation, many
workers reported increasing household hunger and food insecurity. A priori expectation due to the
labour market segmentation theory is that informal workers were more likely to experience hunger and
food insecurity relative to formal workers. The South African informal sector is highly vulnerable,
generally engaged in precarious jobs for... (More)
During the strict COVID-19 lockdowns imposed by many countries around the world, most of the vital
economic activities were stopped, causing severe socio-economic disruptions worldwide. Likewise,
South Africa went into a strict lockdown on the 27th of March, triggering massive loss of earnings and
jobs for numerous workers. Despite the rapid government response to the difficult situation, many
workers reported increasing household hunger and food insecurity. A priori expectation due to the
labour market segmentation theory is that informal workers were more likely to experience hunger and
food insecurity relative to formal workers. The South African informal sector is highly vulnerable,
generally engaged in precarious jobs for ensuring daily survival. Thus, this paper aims to identify
informal workers’ hunger and food insecurity outcomes during the lockdown compared to formal
workers, and to understand the implications arisen. By employing a descriptive analysis followed by
a logit regression, this study finds that the South African informal sector was correlated with higher
probabilities of household hunger and food insecurity during the lockdown. Moreover, certain groups
within both sectors, mainly casual workers and black/coloured groups, were affected more intensely
by hunger and food insecurity. However, both formal and informal workers were seriously affected
and encountered obstacles in accessing proper social support. Hence, the analysis suggests that
prospective policy plans dealing with economic crises need to be tailored for targeting specific groups
of vulnerable workers within formal and informal sectors. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Ionut, Laura LU
supervisor
organization
course
EKHS21 20211
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Keywords: Formal/Informal sector, Hunger, Food insecurity, COVID-19 lockdown, South Africa
language
English
id
9066023
date added to LUP
2021-09-27 10:41:04
date last changed
2021-09-27 10:41:04
@misc{9066023,
  abstract     = {{During the strict COVID-19 lockdowns imposed by many countries around the world, most of the vital 
economic activities were stopped, causing severe socio-economic disruptions worldwide. Likewise, 
South Africa went into a strict lockdown on the 27th of March, triggering massive loss of earnings and 
jobs for numerous workers. Despite the rapid government response to the difficult situation, many
workers reported increasing household hunger and food insecurity. A priori expectation due to the 
labour market segmentation theory is that informal workers were more likely to experience hunger and 
food insecurity relative to formal workers. The South African informal sector is highly vulnerable, 
generally engaged in precarious jobs for ensuring daily survival. Thus, this paper aims to identify 
informal workers’ hunger and food insecurity outcomes during the lockdown compared to formal 
workers, and to understand the implications arisen. By employing a descriptive analysis followed by
a logit regression, this study finds that the South African informal sector was correlated with higher 
probabilities of household hunger and food insecurity during the lockdown. Moreover, certain groups 
within both sectors, mainly casual workers and black/coloured groups, were affected more intensely
by hunger and food insecurity. However, both formal and informal workers were seriously affected 
and encountered obstacles in accessing proper social support. Hence, the analysis suggests that 
prospective policy plans dealing with economic crises need to be tailored for targeting specific groups 
of vulnerable workers within formal and informal sectors.}},
  author       = {{Ionut, Laura}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Implications of COVID-19 Lockdowns on Household Hunger and Food Insecurity in South Africa's Formal and Informal Sector: Evidence from Recent Survey Data}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}