South Africa Household Survey

South Africa

Data source

South Africa had a population of 42.8 million with 14.6 million children under the age of fifteen in 2000. [37]   The female share of the labor force had increased from 29 percent in 1960 to 38 percent in 2000. [38]  Fifty-five percent of the South African population lived in urban areas in 2000, up from 46.6 percent in 1960. [39]   The percentage of the labor force working in agriculture fell from 17 percent in 1980 to 13.5 percent in 1990. [40]   Services make up the largest sector of the labor force, with industry occupying the second largest portion of the labor force.  The rise of the AIDS epidemic is confronting South Africa with particularly difficult work and caregiving challenges: 20.1% of South African adults of reproductive age are HIV positive. [41]

We examined data on work and family conditions from the South Africa Integrated Household Survey 1994. [42]    The Survey, conducted by the South Africa Labour Development Research Unit (University of Cape Town) in collaboration with the World Bank, sampled 43,687 individuals in 8,809 households. [43]  Of these, 2,727 had at least one child between birth and age 5, and 4,488 with at least one child between birth and age 14. 

Please see Table 6 for a description of the survey sample we analyzed.

Table 6. Demographic Characteristics
South Africa Integrated Household Survey 1994
	Adults	Children
	(18 and older)	(17 or younger)
Age (years)
Mean	38.2	8.9
Range	18-110	0-17
Highest education level (%)
Preschool or no education	15.8	14.3
Primary (5 years)	28	70.8
Lower secondary (8 years)	29.5	13.7
Higher secondary (10 years)	24	1.3
College and above	2.8	0
Race of survey respondent (%)
White	70.1	-
Black	8.6	-
Mixed	3.4	-
Indian	17.9	-
Number of under 18 children in household (%)
0	25.5	0
1	16.7	9.2
2	19.3	20.1
3	14.3	20.8
4 or more	24.2	49.9
Marital status (%)
Never married or divorced	31.9	-
Married or separated	58.8	-
Widowed	9.3	-
Per capita household income (%)
Below Median	48.2	74.8
Above Median	51.8	25.2
Notes: 1) Data on race is available only for the household member who was the survey respondent.
2) Survey questions do not differentiate unmarried from the divorced, and the married from the separated.

Measures analyzed

In addition to the analyses described that were conducted in all countries, we examined the survey’s detailed questions on family illness burden.  Specifically, we analyzed the occurrence of health problems in the two weeks preceding the survey, the number of household members who had stopped normal activities due to health problems in those previous two weeks, the number of days of work missed due to health problems, and whether any children younger than fourteen had had an illness or injury during that time period.

In addition, we examined the frequency of common childhood illnesses among 0 to 4 year olds and also the social and family supports (as measured by the presence of nonworking grandparents living in the household).  Finally, our analysis also included an examination of the average duration of breastfeeding, whether children were immunized, and an assessment of the school enrollment rates of children and their relationship to the work status of the household.

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

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

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

[40] International Labour Office. KILM 2001-2002. Key Indicators of the Labor Market. Geneva, Switzerland, 2002.

[41] UNAIDS/WHO. Epidemiological Fact Sheets on HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections, South Africa.  2002 Update.  Available at: http://www.unaids.org/hivaidsinfo/statistics/fact_sheets/pdfs/Southafrica_en.pdf

[42] For more information on the South Africa Integrated Household Survey, see: http://www.worldbank.org/lsms/country/za94/docs/za94ovr.txt.  Accessed: April 1, 2003.

[43] For more information on the South Africa Integrated Household Survey, see: http://www.worldbank.org/lsms/country/za94/docs/za94ovr.txt.  Accessed: April 1, 2003.

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