The labour market effects of the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant

SCIS invites you to a hybrid seminar presented by Tim Köhler on the labour market effects of the SRD grant on 13 March 2025.

The Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS) invites you to a timely seminar presented by Tim Köhler on the labour market effects of the SRD grant. This hybrid session will take place on 13 March 2025, 12:30 - 14:00 (SAST). You can also join us in person in the SCIS Seminar Room, North Lodge Building, Parktown Management Campus.

Abstract:
This paper considers the labour market effects of an unconditional cash transfer targeted at the unemployed in a context of extreme unemployment. Using staggered, heterogeneity-robust difference-in-differences designs applied to panel labour force survey data, we provide the first estimates of the causal effects of receipt of a new transfer introduced in South Africa in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant, the first labour market-linked transfer in the country’s history. As an extension, we leverage variation induced by a change in eligibility criteria which resulted in a significant reduction in coverage to estimate the effects of grant loss (conditional on prior receipt). Focusing on three outcomes – job search, trying to start a business, and employment – we estimate direct effects on recipients and indirect effects on co-resident household members. We estimate both average and dynamic effects during the pandemic and post-pandemic periods, and additionally explore effect heterogeneity by employment type and sectoral formality. The results aim to inform policy discussions surrounding the appropriate form of social support for the working-age unemployed in high-unemployment lower-income contexts.

Bio:
Tim is an applied development micro-economist focused on labour markets, social protection, and policy evaluation in lower-income countries. He’s currently a Junior Research Fellow at the Development Policy Research Unit based at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and a research affiliate with the Research on
Socio-Economic Policy unit at Stellenbosch University. Tim regularly conducts economic advisory work for several multilateral organisations and South African government departments, and his research has been published in World Development and Energy Economics, among other outlets. He earned his PhD
from UCT in 2024, and will be a Visiting Scholar at UNU-WIDER in Helsinki, Finland in 2025. More information on Tim’s work can be found on his website.

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