As shown in Panel B of the figure, the share of households receiving some income from social grants has increased substantially in the past eight years and even more so for black African households. Grant recipiency has risen sharply among the black population, from just below 30% in 2002 to above 50% in 2008, whereas this share has remained fairly stable for the non-black population. The impact of the social grants on limiting the extent of poverty has been substantial. According to Woolard and Leibbrandt (2010), without government grants poverty would have worsened between the end of apartheid and today, mainly because unemployment has increased and hence labour income has become less important for a large number of households.