1. Social Protection, an investment with economic returns Prof Alex van den Heever Chair in the Field of Social Security Alex.vandenheever@wits.ac.za

2. JUST SOCIETIES ARE PRODUCTIVE

3. Modern societies structurally generate social pathologies with long-term consequences Employment – Specialised – Binary – Substitute for non-traded forms of work – Vulnerable to structural economic change Informal risk sharing – Fractured Proximity to large populations – Social – Health

4. Income inequality – Structural increases – driving systemic poverty as one outcome – Economic distortions Consumption patterns Industrial organisation Weak adaptability Structural exclusion of segments of society – Poverty measures only a proxy indicator of a problem

5. Cumulative share of population Cumulative share of income Lorenz curve What does – “who pays” mean? Correct through both primary (1) and secondary (2) distributions of income (1) (2) (1) Structure of employment (2) Explicit income redistribution

6. Poverty Capabilities De-industrialisation Vulnerable to social risks Structure of consumption Economic returns to SP Inequality Economic growth potential Reduced social investments Income/production cycle narrows based on very high income earners

7. Social protection pays for itself by reversing the negative externalities of biased economic accumulation Poverty Capabilities De-industrialisation Vulnerable to social risks Structure of consumption Inequality Economic growth potential Sufficient income redistribution and risk pooling To structurally correct the distribution of income

8. END