Differential education expenditure by racial group was a pillar in the architecture of
apartheid. School systems diverged by racial group, with large funding and curriculum
differences (Fiske and Ladd, 2004). In 1994, spending on white learners was about 1.5 times
the spending on urban African learners and more than four times the spending on rural
African learners (Fiske and Ladd, 2004). Since 1994 much focus has been paid by
government to redress these educational expenditure inequalities with policies such as the
National Norms and Standards for School Funding (NNSSF) and the rollout of the no fee
schools program disproportionately allocating state funds to low socioeconomic schools and
the fee‐exemption policy providing low income households and grant recipients access to
free education. Little is however known about how these policies have affected household
educational expenditure across the income distribution.
The National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) is the first nationally representative panel
study in South Africa. The first wave of NIDS was collected in 2008; with wave 2 following in
2010/2011 and wave 3 in 2012. NIDS presents us with a unique tool to examine educational
expenditure in South African households since 2007. The survey collects socioeconomic
information at the household and individual level and includes in‐depth questions on
educational expenditure. Educational expenditure data are collected in different
educational components including fees, uniforms, stationary and books, transport and other
expenses for the year preceding the survey year.