Botswana Household Survey

Botswana

Botswana, located in sub-Saharan Africa, had an estimated population of 1.6 million and an annual population growth rate of 2.5 percent in 2000.  Forty-three percent of the Botswanan population was younger than fifteen.[1] Of the adults, 84 percent of men and 67 percent of women were economically active [2] ^, [3]  In contrast to 1960, when 93 percent of labor force participants were involved in agriculture,[1] in 1996, 33 percent of employed persons worked for the government, 32 percent worked in the private sector, and only 14 percent worked in agriculture.[3]

Botswana is politically stable, having maintained a peaceful multiparty democracy since its independence in 1966. Yet the Botswanan population presently is plagued by a catastrophic level of HIV infection.  Botswana had a staggering adult HIV seroprevalence rate of 36 percent in 1999. [4] Infection rates of this magnitude dramatically and tragically add to the caregiving burdens of working adults.  Prior to the HIV epidemic, Botswana was one of the most rapidly growing economies in sub-Saharan Africa, fueled primarily by mining and exporting minerals, especially diamonds, and the production and sales of beef. [5] Despite its macroeconomic performance, 47 percent of the population (38 percent of all households) were living below the poverty line in 1993 and 1994. [6]

Data source

The secondary data source used to examine working and caregiving conditions in Botswana was the 2000 round of the Multiple Indicator Survey conducted by the Central Statistics Office, Gabarone. [7]  The special focuses of the survey were fertility and the health of mothers and children from birth to age five.  It also contained information on household-level demographics, education, school enrollment, employment status, occupation, socioeconomic indicators, and measures of social support.  Of the survey’s 6,188 households, we analyzed 2,261 households that had a child younger than five, and 3,547 households that had a child younger than fourteen. 

See Table 2 for a description of the demographic characteristics of the households surveyed.

Table 2. Demographic Characteristics
Botswana Multiple Indicator Survey 2000
	Adults	Children
	(18 and older)	(17 or younger)
Age (years)
Mean	37.1	8.6
Range	18-99	0-17
Highest education level (%)
No schooling	21.1	8.2
Primary (7 years)	31	72.9
Secondary (13 years)	45.6	18.9
College and above	2.3	0
Number of under 18 children in household (%)
0	26.7
1	15.3	8.3
2	15.2	15.4
3	13.2	18.6
4 or more	29.5	57.7
Marital status (%)
Never Married	54.8
Married	24.2
Separated	0.4
Living Together	13.8
Divorced	1.2
Widowed	5.7

Measures analyzed

In addition to the analyses described above that were conducted in all countries, our analysis of the Botswana data included an examination of enrollment in early childhood education programs, enrollment of children aged six to fourteen in schools, whether or not children were breastfed, whether or not children were immunized, and how these interacted with work status among adults in the household.   As there were no data on family income in this survey, no analyses by income could be conducted. 

________________________

[1] World Bank Group.  World Development Indicators 2000. Washington, DC: World Bank, 2000.

[2] International Labour Organization. Key Indicatory Indicators of the Labor Market. Geneva, Switzerland: ILO, 1999.

[3] Central Statistics Unit, Labor Statistics Unit. 1995/96 Labour Force Survey, Gabarone, Botswana, 1998.

[4] Botswana Ministry of Health, AIDS/STD Unit. Sentinel Surveillance Report 1999.  Gabarone, Botswana, 2000.

[5] United Nations Development Programme. Human Development Report 2000. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

[6] United Nations Development Programme. UNDP: Country Cooporation Frameworks and Related Matters.  First Country Cooperation Framework for Botswana (1997-2002). New York: United Nations Population Fund, 1997.

[7] For more information on the 2000 round of the Multiple Indicator Survey, see: http://www.cso.gov.bw/cso/.  Botswana Central Statistics Office, Private Bag 0024, Gabarone, Botswana.

Back to Household Surveys

---

This page is maintained by The Project on Global Working Families.

Copyright 2002 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College

HSPH home