One of the proposals that President Ramaphosa made on behalf of the Government of National Unity is that they want to investigate an income grant for unemployed people. Despite many studies on this, economists do not agree on what such an allowance achieves. We mostly agree that it is better to give cash without conditions, but the impact of such a grant on outcomes such as job-seeking activity, small-scale entrepreneurship, further education, or health varies between studies. The results of a large American study focusing on health outcomes have everyone a little worried.

This episode is supported by Economic Research Southern Africa and the NWU Business School.