Benjamin James Roberts is Research Director in the Developmental, Capable and Ethical State (DCES) Research Division, and Coordinator of the South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS) series at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). He has a PhD in Social Policy and Labour Studies from Rhodes University, an MSc in Urban and Regional Planning (Development Studies) with distinction from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), and a BSc in Town and Regional Planning (cum laude) from the University of the Witwatersrand. He has extensive experience with regard to the micro-econometric analysis of household surveys, with a particular emphasis on the measurement of attitudes, poverty and subjective wellbeing. Benjamin's research interests and areas of expertise include: attitudinal measurement and social change, financial literacy, the quantitative analysis of poverty and inequality, subjective wellbeing and quality of life, election studies, and crime and safety.
Prior to joining the HSRC, Benjamin was a research fellow in the Population and Poverty Studies Programme at the School of Development Studies at UKZN, where he was among the researchers responsible for one of the country’s first large-scale panel studies, the KwaZulu-Natal Income Dynamics Study (KIDS, 1998), as well as Department of Land Affairs’ Quality of Life surveys. He has coordinated the SASAS series since its inception in 2003, as well as the HSRC’s electoral survey series on behalf of the Electoral Commission of South Africa for the last decade. Since 2010, he has partnered with the Financial Sector Control Authority (FSCA) in developing and monitoring financial literacy in South Africa.
