Abstract:
We use Wave 2 of NIDS-CRAM data to provide an update to our original estimates (Jain et al., 2020) of COVID-19-related employment and poverty impacts in South Africa. Compared to the most stringent phase of South Africa's lockdown in April, we find evidence of a limited recovery in the labour market, a decrease in poverty, and an important role for the new Social Relief of Distress grant by June. While temporary unemployment almost returned to February levels, we find that active employment was still 20% lower in June than February, mostly due to job terminations that persisted into June.
