Unemployment benefit changed life in South Africa
New Delhi:
The help given by the government during the corona epidemic has proved to be a boon for all sections of people. Be it India or any other country, the government’s help made people’s lives easier during the pandemic. During the corona, the South African government started giving a grant of 1,580 rupees ($19) a month to the unemployed people in its country, how the money changed the lives of the beneficiaries, a new documentary reveals. The documentary ‘A Descent Path’ shows the impact of the Social Relief of Distress (SROD) grant on the lives of four key beneficiaries.
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‘Millions of unemployed got relief with government help’
Speaking to policy experts, Social Development Minister Zulu said the documentary shows how devastating grant losses can be for beneficiaries. Funding for the documentary came from the United Nations Sustainable Development Fund through UNICEF, South Africa. Monthly government assistance during the coronavirus pandemic provided immediate relief to millions of unemployed people and kept many local economies afloat, significantly reducing the economic disaster that would otherwise have followed the devastating effects of the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. could have been born.
12 million unemployed people benefited
President Cyril Ramaphosa praised the program for “reducing poverty and enabling beneficiaries to find jobs and sustain their livelihoods and engage in other economic activities”. It also provides grants to the disabled, but until the introduction of the SROD grant, there was no financial assistance. This is available to people in a country with about 12 million unemployed youth.
SROD expansion in South Africa
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, in his medium-term budget policy statement earlier this week, announced the extension of the SROD until the 2024-25 budget. This will be the fifth year of the program after launching in May 2020. The Department for Social Development said there is global evidence that income support is one of the most important investments in stimulating local economies, not just basic needs.
A big reveal in the documentary film
A recent study of 42 countries showed that countries with particularly high inequality have a five-fold higher return on government grant spending, and that South Africa is the most unequal country in the world, it said in a statement. “The documentary ends with a clear understanding of how transformative a proper Universal Basic Income can be,” the statement said.
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