ADaPT Project

AIDS, Demographic and Poverty Trends

This ESRC funded project aims to improve understanding of demographic and poverty dynamics in an African population with high AIDS mortality and assess the implications for social policy.

It will analyze two panel datasets from South Africa -the KwaZulu-Natal Income Dynamics Study (KIDS) and the Africa Centre Demographic Information System (ACDIS) - supplemented by data from official inquiries and qualitative studies to:

1. improve the measurement of poverty dynamics;
   

2. understand better the impact of deaths of working-age adults on household welfare, households’ responses, and the determinants of differential vulnerability and resilience;

3. examine the effects of demographic change, including the AIDS epidemic, on poverty dynamics across the life course in South Africa;

4. assess social policy interventions designed to mitigate impact and their distributional implications across the life course.

The project will advance understanding of the impact of HIV/AIDS on the welfare of the poor and widen debate on policies intended to mitigate impact to encompass longer-term consequences. High AIDS mortality affects the life course of individuals and households, undermines investment in human capital, and has long-term social, economic, and fiscal implications.

The ADaPT Project builds on existing partnerships between CPS at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and two parts of the University of KwaZulu-Natal , the School of Development Studies (SoDS) and the Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies, South Africa.

For more information: ADaPT in the news

Publications

1. Timaeus, I.M.; Boler, T.; Father figures: the progress at school of orphans in South Africa. AIDS, 2007; 21(Supp. 7):S83-S93
2. Carter M.R.; May J.; Agüero J.; Ravindranath S.; The economic impacts of premature adult mortality: panel data evidence from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.AIDS, 2007; 21(Supp. 7):S83-S93