Journal
AREA DEVELOPMENT AND POLICY
Volume 6, Issue 1, Pages 50-62Publisher
ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/23792949.2020.1851143
Keywords
COVID-19; spatial inequalities; rural poverty and vulnerability; urban resilience
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The South African government implemented a strict lockdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has exacerbated existing inequalities between cities and rural areas. Targeted efforts to increase job opportunities are needed to help the most vulnerable areas improve their livelihoods. Early withdrawal of relief measures could worsen the hardship in poorer communities that have come to rely on these resources following a decline in employment.
Like most governments around the world, the South African government adopted a uniform, place-blind response to the coronavirus pandemic, including a hard lockdown. New evidence from a large household survey reveals that the socioeconomic effects have widened pre-existing inequalities between cities and rural areas. More could be done to complement national relief programmes with targeted efforts to boost jobs and livelihoods in the most vulnerable areas. In addition, the premature withdrawal of relief measures before the economy has recovered would aggravate the hardship in poorer communities that have come to rely on these resources following the jobs slump.
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