POVERTY IN A RURAL AREA: THE ROLE OF THE SOCIAL WORKER
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15270/44-1-254Abstract
There are many ways of looking at poverty. When poverty is measured in absolute terms, itrefers to the financial means necessary for people to survive from day to day. The most basic
measures of poverty in South Africa are the Minimum Living Level (MLL) and the Household
Subsistence Level (HSL). They measure the amount of money necessary to provide a
household (of six people) with the very basic necessities, including food, clothing, energy,
washing, rent and transport to stay alive (Greeff, 2004:7). The Household Effective Level
(HEL), which is the HSL plus 50%, makes provision for some important items not covered by
the HSL, namely tax, medical expenses, replacement of household equipment, education,
recreation, personal care, pension and burial contributions. In 1999, for South Africa, that
would have amounted to R800,00 per month (Greeff, 2004:7).
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