This paper quantifies the impact of health on labour force participation, using South Africa as
a case study. This is important given the essential role the labour market plays in economic
growth and the potential for poor health to adversely affect labour market outcomes. South
Africa has experienced significant disease burden especially due to communicable diseases
like HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. Moreover, conditions like obesity remain a public health
concern. Furthermore, the country has witnessed declining labour force participation in recent
years. These health and labour market outcomes, coupled with relatively scant literature on the
impact of health on the labour market in South Africa, motivate this study. Data is sourced
from the first and third waves of the National Income Dynamics Study, a nationally
representative panel dataset of South African households and a rich source of health and socioeconomic
data. Endogenous treatment of self-assessed health in a contemporaneous setting
suggests positive and significant impact of health on labour force participation. The hypothesis
of exogeneity of self-assessed health in a labour force participation equation is however not
rejected. Finally, positive and significant association between health and LFP persists even four
years after health assessment.