The HSRC in partnership with the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) and #PayTheGrants recently co-hosted the third successful webinar as part of the #BigQuestionsForUBIG series. This webinar concentrated on a longstanding question in the UBIG debates: how can positive impacts of UBIG be optimised for beneficiaries and the economy?

The evidence discussed indicates that cash transfers alleviate food insecurity, significantly reduce hunger, poverty headcount, poverty levels, malnutrition among children, inequality and school drop-out. Claims that UBIG would create dependency, encourage laziness, discourage recipients from seeking employment and distort the labour market rest on theoretical populism and weak evidence. The social assistance interventions by the South African government in response to the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were critical in assisting the vulnerable population to gain access to enough food, thus reducing hunger. 

Watch the recording:

https://web.facebook.com/HumanSciencesResearchCouncil/videos/655773435583694/?t=22

The concluding webinar in this series will answer another fundamental UBIG question: How Do We Get There?  (1 December 2021).

The #BigQuestionsForUBIG webinars form part of the 2021/22 HSRC poverty and inequality events. IED is co-hosting these webinars with the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) and #PayTheGrants. It is a platform for academic experts, public policy officials and civil society activists to interrogate questions and evidence that arise from UBIG programmes.