Investigations into the relationship between poverty and disability are limited, particularly from a South African
perspective. In addition, when this relationship is addressed it is usually in isolation of other social characteristics,
such as gender. As such the intersections between disability, gender, race and poverty are often overlooked – yet
internationally research points to gender gaps in outcomes for people with disabilities. This briefing seeks to address
this gap by reporting on a national study on poverty and disability in South Africa. We make use of the theory of
intersectionality as a lens to interpret evidence from a national survey, the South African National Income Dynamics
Study (South African Labour and Development Research Unit, 2014). Specifically, we assess how poverty and
disability intersect to shape particular outcomes for women as compared to men with disabilities. This briefing
demonstrates that in South Africa disability intersects with gender as well as age and race to result in negative
outcomes in education, employment and income for all people with disabilities, but particularly black women with
disabilities. Evidence is provided for what we theorise to be the case – that disability and gender intersect to
compound negative outcomes for black women with disabilities