This authoritative volume explores poverty and labor market issues over the first decade of democracy in South Africa. It is an attempt by leading South African scholars—supplemented by the work of international scholars working on South Africa—to take stock of the first post-apartheid decade, to assess the evolution of poverty, inequality, human needs, and unemployment, and to relate this evolution to the policy stances and interventions of the first government elected freely by all South Africans. Based on this assessment, the individual papers and the overview chapter draw implications for policy in the second post-apartheid decade.