As is clear from the title of the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS), one of the
major reasons for undertaking South Africa’s first national panel study has been to gain
an understanding of income mobility. In 2008, a nationally sampled set of South African
residents were visited for the first time in wave 1 of NIDS. During this visit, the baseline
information was gathered to track and understand changes in their well-being going
forward. This sample was nationally representative in order for NIDS to provide an
assessment of these changes at the aggregate level. Also, it was large enough to enable
NIDS to provide information on key sub-sets of this national story. We need to know
who is making progress in terms of escaping poverty, or at least increasing their real
income and what factors are driving this. Also, we need to know who is persistently
poor and why.
In 2010/2011, the individuals who were sampled in wave 1 were visited for a second
time in order to collect data tracking changes in their well-being two years after they
were first visited. Thus, with the release of wave 2 of NIDS, the country has an
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opportunity to study changes in the incomes of individuals and households across the
country over the period 2008 to 2010.