Abstract
Low-income South Africans experience a low standard of living and reportedly fail to fulfil their basic needs. The country also experiences high incidences of health service crises, and the demand for the services keeps rising. Research has shown that individual health is systematically different from the prevalence of poverty. This study aims to analyse the relationship between lived poverty and ill-health in South Africa.
The study used quantitative data from the survey data collected by Afrobarometer from 2004-2021 that covered perceptions and attitudes of South Africans towards democracy, economics, and civil society. The surveys on which this report was based were conducted throughout South Africa, and census data were used to design the samples. The samples are clustered with a sample size of either 3600 or 1600. The samples are always randomly selected in proportion to the size of each area in the population and balanced in terms of gender. The target population is adult citizens (18 years and older) of South Africa. Interviews were conducted in nine of the official languages in the country. Also, Statistics South Africa data on mortality and causes of death in South Africa was used. Moreover, the dissertation used descriptive statistics to organise and analyse the data and to describe or summarise the select sample features. Cross tabulations were used to analyse the relationship between multiple variables in a table. Furthermore, the dissertation used a desktop study to provide context for the figures when the surveys were conducted. Policy responses, political shifts, and the economy’s performance all affect the ability to acquire basic necessities; relevant policy documents and reports by the World Bank and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), amongst other organisations, were also used. These reports are also important for validating the lived poverty results.
An analysis of various ill-health conditions and lived poverty experiences (LPEs) demonstrated that LPEs are made up of different modifiable independent variables that include but are not limited to food insecurity, lack of education, and unemployment. These modifiable independent variables (LPEs) are not only associated with negative health outcomes but are also high-risk vulnerabilities that may lead individuals to contract various ill-health conditions that are already killing South Africans. In other words, LPEs often lead to mortality. Also, most of the LPEs are influenced by the government’s failures to address social issues in the sense that the more the government is inactive or does the bare minimum in addressing social issues (which include the independent variables), the higher the risks of impoverished people in contracting various ill-health conditions that are associated with LPEs. Moreover, LPEs are interconnected and serve as self-reinforcing disadvantages that trap the impoverished in the cycle of lived poverty with few to no resources, thus making it close to impossible for impoverished people to break the cycle.
This study’s results suggest a strong correlation between lived poverty experiences (LPEs) and ill-health. It is posited that individuals who experience poverty are more susceptible to negative health outcomes and vice versa. Furthermore, the simultaneous experience of multiple LPEs can lead to a cyclical trap of poverty and poor health. Given these findings, it is recommended that government intervention be implemented to address LPEs in a comprehensive manner to decrease the likelihood of individuals experiencing negative health outcomes. The government's role in promoting social development and providing social services is crucial in mitigating the effects of poverty on health. The study concludes with a call for further research to investigate factors that influence the fluctuation of both LPEs and ill-health conditions in South Africa, with the goal of developing effective strategies to address these issues.