Edited by Acheampong Yaw Amoateng & Tim B Heaton Families and households in post-apartheid South Africa: Socio-demographic perspectives Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za Published by HSRC Press Private Bag X9182, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa www.hsrcpress.ac.za First published 2007 ISBN 978-0-7969-2190-1 © 2007 Human Sciences Research Council Copy-edited by Vaun Cornell Typeset by Robin Taylor Cover design by comPress Print management by comPress Distributed in Africa by Blue Weaver Tel: +27 (0) 21 701 4477; Fax: +27 (0) 21 701 7302 www.oneworldbooks.com Distributed in Europe and the United Kingdom by Eurospan Distribution Services (EDS) Tel: +44 (0) 20 7240 0856; Fax: +44 (0) 20 7379 0609 www.eurospangroup.com/bookstore Distributed in North America by Independent Publishers Group (IPG) Call toll-free: (800) 888 4741; Fax: +1 (312) 337 5985 www.ipgbook.com Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za Tables and figures iv Preface vii Acronyms and abbreviations ix Chapter฀1 Social and economic context of families and households in South Africa 1 Acheampong Yaw Amoateng & Linda M Richter Chapter฀2 Towards a conceptual framework for families and households 27 Acheampong Yaw Amoateng Chapter฀3 Living arrangements in South Africa 43 Acheampong Yaw Amoateng, Tim B Heaton & Ishmael Kalule-Sabiti Chapter฀4 The economic well-being of the family: Households’ access to resources in South Africa, 1995–2003 61 Daniela Casale & Chris Desmond Chapter฀5 Family formation and dissolution patterns 89 Ishmael Kalule-Sabiti, Martin Palamuleni, Monde Makiwane & Acheampong Yaw Amoateng Chapter฀6 Fertility and childbearing in South Africa 113 Martin Palamuleni, Ishmael Kalule-Sabiti & Monde Makiwane Chapter฀7 Children’s household work as a contribution to the well-being of the family and household 135 Sharmla Rama & Linda M Richter Chapter฀8 The family context for racial differences in child mortality in South Africa 171 Tim B Heaton & Acheampong Yaw Amoateng Contributors฀ 188  Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za iv ©HSRC 2007 Tables Table 3.1 Distribution of household types by race of head in rural and urban areas 52 Table 3.2 Percentage distribution of husbands living apart from their spouses by race 53 Table 4.1 Households’ main source of income (percentage of households), 2002 63 Table 4.2 Household income from employment, 1995–2003 66 Table 4.3 Percentage of households with a member receiving a private pension 69 Table 4.4 Percentage of households with a member receiving a welfare grant 69 Table 4.5 Percentage of households receiving remittances and average remittance value 70 Table 4.6 Proportion of households in nominal total monthly expenditure categories 72 Table 4.7 Percentage of households with access to and making use of various services, 1995 76 Table 4.8 Percentage of households whose main dwelling is an informal structure 77 Table 4.9 Percentage of households using mains electricity for lighting 79 Table 4.10 Percentage of households using mains electricity for cooking 80 Table 4.11 Percentage of households with access to a tap in the household or yard, or a public tap, as their main source of water 82 Table 4.12 The distribution of access to different toilet types 84 Table 5.1 Singulate mean age at first marriage by province and race, 1996 and 2001 96 Table 5.2 Age at first marriage by selected background variables, all women 1998 98 Table 5.3 Percentage distribution of timing of first birth in relation to first marriage by race of respondent, all women 1998 99 Table 5.4 Percentage distribution of the population by current age and marital status, South Africa 2001 101 Table 5.5a Percentage single males by age group and province, South Africa 2001 102 Table 5.5b Percentage single females by age group and province, South Africa 2001 102 Table 5.6 Proportions married within each five-year age group by race 105 Table 5.7 Logistic regression analysis of marriage patterns 106 Table 6.1 Use-effectiveness of different contraceptive methods 120 Table 6.2 Mean number of children ever born to women by age and selected socio-economic factors, South Africa, 1998 122 Table 6.3 Indices of proximate determinants of fertility by population group, South Africa 1998 124 Table 7.1 Derived household income by households with children, and children by derived income of household 139  Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za v ©HSRC 2007 Table 7.2 Distribution of children by background characteristics (weighted and unweighted) 148 Table 7.3 Diary of main activities for two girls aged 10, residing in an area categorised as other rural 150 Table 7.4 Total and mean time children spend on cooking-related activities, by age and gender (unweighted) 153 Table 7.5 Total and mean time children spend on the cleaning and upkeep of the dwelling, by age and gender (unweighted) 153 Table 7.6 Total and mean time children spend on the care of textiles, by age and gender (unweighted) 154 Table 7.7 Total and mean time children spend on the combined household activities, by age and gender (unweighted) 155 Table 7.8 Total and mean time children spend on the collection of fuel sources for the household, by age and gender (unweighted) 156 Table 7.9 Total and mean time children spend on the collection of fuel sources for the household, by gender and locale (unweighted) 157 Table 7.10 Total and mean time children spend on the collection of water for the household, by gender and age (unweighted) 158 Table 7.11 Total and mean time children spend on the collection of water for the household, by locale (unweighted) 158 Table 7.12 Total and mean time children spend on chopping wood, lighting fires and heating water for the household, by gender and age (unweighted and unweighted) 160 Table 7.13 Total and mean time spent by children on caring for household and non-household members (unweighted and weighted) 161 Table 7.14 Total and mean time children spend on shopping for the household, by gender and age (unweighted) 162 Table 7.15 Activities engaged in by one 13-year-old girl for the diary day, Tuesday 163 Table 8.1 Cox regression models predicting child mortality: demographic and socio-economic conditions 178 Table 8.2 Cox regression models predicting child mortality in South Africa: reproduction and health 181 Table 8.3 Cox regression models of child mortality: summary model 182 Figures Figure 3.1 Distribution of household types in South Africa, 1996 and 2001 48 Figure 3.2a Distribution of household type by race of head 49 Figure 3.2b Distribution of household type by race of head 49 Figure 3.3 Education and complex household living by race 50 Figure 3.4 Education and household type 54 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za vi ©HSRC 2007 Figure 3.5 Rural/urban residence and household type 55 Figure 5.1 Percentage of males never married by population group, South Africa 2001 103 Figure 5.2 Percentage of females never married by population group, South Africa 2001 103 Figure 5.3 Percentage of males married, by population group, South Africa 2001 104 Figure 5.4 Percentage of females married, by population group, South Africa 2001 104 Figure 5.5 Race differences in marriage 106 Figure 6.1 Linkages between fertility and the socio-economic and cultural system through biosocial and proximate determinates 115 Figure 6.2 Impact of proximate determinants on fertility 121 Figure 6.3 Proximate determinants of fertility in South Africa by population group 125 Figure 8.1 Child survival by race group 174 Figure 8.2 Maternal education by race/ethnicity 183 Figure 8.3 Contraceptive use by race/ethnicity 183 Figure 8.4 Utilisation of pre- and post-natal healthcare by race/ethnicity 184 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za vii ©HSRC 2007  Because of the devastating effect apartheid-induced policies such as migratory labour, influx control, the Immorality Act and so on, had on families and communities before the democratic transition in 1994, concerns about families and their well-being have come to occupy centre stage in the post-transition period both by policy-makers and the general public. One indication of this increasing concern about families and their social and economic circumstances is the rapid rate at which social and economic data on families and the households they occupy are becoming available for the purpose of planning to meet their needs. The idea for the present publication originated in 2002 when I joined the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) from the University of the Western Cape. In this new position the Executive Director, Professor Linda Richter put me in charge of an in-house project called the Strengthening Families Project. Essentially, this project involved secondary and descriptive analyses of the various survey and census data that had proliferated in the country in the immediate post-transition period. Even though before 1994 sociologists and other social scientists had documented the nature of changes in families and households in the country, limitations of such studies in terms of coverage and scope had made works like the present monograph imperative. In other words, the idea was to take advantage of the myriad large-scale, quantitative socio-economic data sets that were increasingly becoming available to the South African public to describe the changes that families and households were experiencing as a result of the political, economic, and social transformations that were engulfing the broader society. Moreover, because of the multifaceted nature of domestic organisation, such a study was to be multidisciplinary. The idea to write the monograph was communicated to social science colleagues both in and outside the HSRC, many of whom readily welcomed the challenge and agreed to attend a workshop in the Pretoria offices of the HSRC in November 2003, to discuss issues such as chapter outlines, data sources and timelines. At the workshop, consensus was reached on important issues. Firstly, we agreed to use secondary data sources in the form of the two censuses and sample surveys (the October Household series, the South African Demographic and Health Survey, the General Household Survey series and so on). Secondly, we agreed that the analyses for the respective chapters would be essentially descriptive to render the study accessible to both undergraduate and postgraduate students in the family field, academic researchers, policy-makers and the lay public at large. The present publication has been a protracted and combined effort of patient and diligent authors, critical readers, and a supportive and wise publisher. Thus, it is expected that some of the information in the study may be out of date, especially given the rapidity with which quantitative socio-economic data are being generated in the country. Even though alteration of established patterns of social interaction takes time, if the need to update the information contained in this study serves as a basis for further works of this nature, then our initial purpose in producing the monograph would have been served. The development and completion of this publication was Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za viii ©HSRC 2007 due to the indefatigable efforts of friends and colleagues. First, we would like to thank the Executive Director of the Child, Youth, Family and Social Development Research Programme (CYFSD) of the HSRC, Professor Linda Richter, who gave me carte blanche in my research and the support for this work in particular. The authors of this monograph deserve a very special thank you for their thoughtful and well- written contributions. But for their enthusiastic timely revisions, it would have been impossible to complete the project. Over the years, we have been blessed with various interns and research assistants in the Cape Town office of CYFSD who all contributed enormously to the development of this publication: Ms Thandika Gana, Ms Mihloti Mushwana, and Mr Anthony Burns. Finally, we would like to thank the staff at the HSRC Press, for their diligence. Acheampong Yaw Amoateng Human Sciences Research Council, Cape Town Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za ix ©HSRC 2007 CPR contraceptive prevalence rate CRC United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child DHS Demographic and Health Survey EA enumerated area GHS General Household Survey IES Income and Expenditure Survey IMR infant mortality rate LFS Labour Force Survey OHS October Household Survey PSU primary sampling unit SADHS South African Demographic and Health Survey SAYP Survey of Activities of Young People SMAM singulate mean ages at marriage SNA System of National Accounts Stats SA Statistics South Africa TMFR total marital fertility rate TN total natural fertility rate TF total fecundity rate TFR total fertility rate TUS Time Use Survey VIP ventilated pit latrine Note: Names of South African population groups During the apartheid regime, legislation divided the South African populace into four distinct population groups based on racial classification. Although the notion of population groups is now legal history, it is not always possible to gauge the effects of past discriminatory practices, and the progress of policies designed to eradicate them, without reference to it. For this reason, the HSRC continues to use the terms black/African, coloured, white or Indian/Asian people where it is pertinent to the analysis of data.  Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za [...]... constraint was removed largely by African mothers’ ready accessibility to childcare through kin, including politically subordinate, unpaid extended kin.5 Against this broad background of the political economy of South African society during the colonial and apartheid eras, how were families and households depicted by family scholarship? Pre-1994 family scholarship in South Africa In the 1950s and 1960s,... international political-economic system led to South Africa becoming a signatory to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and also joining the Southern African Development Community in 1994 (Economic Commission for Africa 2000) 9 With a per capita GNP of $3 160 South Africa is classified in the 1999 World Bank Tables as a middle-income developing country and ranked 86th of 206 countries (Jenkins... survival, and family well-being are occurring were largely ignored In contemplating this work, we had two main types of audience in mind The first audience is policy-makers As a study of families and households in contemporary South Africa, it was intended to provide an assessment of the performance of society with regard to the welfare of the population To the extent that most people live in families and households, ... life’ So, against this background of social, cultural, economic and political changes that have been taking place in the immediate period before and after the democratic transition, what is the state of families and households in the society? 11 ©HSRC 2007 Family in post-transition scholarship in South Africa As the above review of family scholarship in South Africa in the pre-transition period and elsewhere... housekeeping but which live in the same dwelling are counted as one household in the dwelling unit definition (1995: 116) In South Africa, the official statistical agency, Statistics South Africa, uses the UN’s definition by defining as a household as consisting of: a person, or a group of persons, who occupy a common dwelling [or part of it] for at least four days a week and who provide themselves jointly... Deaton 1998), and is used to purchase provisions within households, including the education of grandchildren.13 Even though the information available on the social and economic impact of HIV/ AIDS on families and children in South Africa is very scanty, the epidemic represents another major challenge to the state, given the alarming rate at which individuals are infected According to Shisana and Simbayi... Thus, the principal aim of the present study is to describe the social, economic and political changes that have taken place in South Africa since the political transition in 1994 and how such changes help us to understand family and household structures in the society It is worthy of note that one of the interesting developments in the country since the democratic transition is the increasing availability... agriculture and utilities sectors showed job attrition of 3.3 per cent and 6.6 per cent respectively In tandem with this rise in unemployment has been a concomitant rise in inequality between the top 10 per cent and the bottom 20 per cent The state As in the economic domain, significant strides have been made in the political and social domains since the democratic transition in South Africa Apartheid... assessing the performance of policy-makers with regard to the population’s welfare by examining not only the rate at which families and households are being formed, but also the social and material resources and costs of families and households of different types in the population This is especially so for those groups and communities that bore the brunt of apartheid’s social engineering policies in the... married women join the labour force in South Africa South African Journal of Sociology 20(3): 143–151 Mampanya-Serpell N (2000) HIV/AIDS and food and nutrition security Available at http://www.ifpri.org/pubs/fpreview/pv07/pv07ch02.pdf Marwick M (1978) Household composition and marriage in a Witwatersrand African township In Argyle & W Preston W (Eds) Social systems and tradition in Southern Africa Cape . www.hsrcpress.ac.za Tables and figures iv Preface vii Acronyms and abbreviations ix Chapter฀1 Social and economic context of families and households in South Africa 1 Acheampong. and marital status, South Africa 2001 101 Table 5.5a Percentage single males by age group and province, South Africa 2001 102 Table 5.5b Percentage single