Fragmenting the Family? The Complexity of Household Migration Strategies in Post-apartheid South Africa

Abstract

The disruption of family life is one of the important legacies of South Africa’s colonial and apartheid history. Families were undermined by deliberate strategies implemented through the pass laws, forced removals, urban housing policy, and the creation of homelands. Despite the removal of legal restrictions on permanent urban settlement and family co-residence for Africans, patterns of internal and oscillating labor migration have endured, dual or stretched households continue to link urban and rural nodes, children have remained less urbanized than adults, and many grow up without coresident parents. Although children are clearly affected by adult labor migration, they have tended to be ignored in the migration discourse. In this study, we add to the literature by showing how a child lens advances our understanding of the complexities of household arrangements and migration processes for families. In a mixed-methods study, we use nationally representative panel data to describe persistence, and also change, in migration patterns in South Africa when viewed from the perspective of children. We then draw on a detailed case study to explore what factors constrain or permit families to migrate together, or children to join adults at migration destination areas.

Social contact, social support, and cognitive health in a population-based study of middle-aged and older men and women in rural South Africa

“…In addition to its unique educational history, rural South Africa is an important environment in which to test associations between social connection and cognition, due to its complex intergenerational dynamics driven by economic and population health factors. Formal employment opportunities were, and often still are, limited to those able to migrate for work ( Hall and Posel, 2019 ), resulting in household structures often lacking working-age generations. Furthermore, HIV has taken a substantial toll in rural South Africa since the 1990s, with adult HIV-seropositivity prevalence often above 30%.…”

Greener Pastures or Banished to Slavery: The Case of Zimbabwean Migrant Workers in Botswana and South Africa (2000-2018) in the context of ILO Standards and Peoples’ Rights

“…Although children are clearly affected by labour migration, they have tended to be ignored in the migration discourse. A focus on children provides an unusual lens for considering migration dynamics…" (Hall: 2017).…”

Psychosocial well-being in adulthood in response to systemic barriers in kinship care as experienced during adolescence

“…The family unit within the South African context has historically been mostly fluid in nature (Hall & Posel, 2018). As such, youth are likely to be exposed to several family disruptions and multiple caregiving experiences throughout their formative life stages (Budlender & Lund, 2011;Hall & Posel, 2018;Marteleto, Cavanagh, Prickett, & Clark, 2016). The complexity of the South African family stems in part from the history of apartheid as well as current socio-political challenges (Hall & Posel, 2018).…”

“…As such, youth are likely to be exposed to several family disruptions and multiple caregiving experiences throughout their formative life stages (Budlender & Lund, 2011;Hall & Posel, 2018;Marteleto, Cavanagh, Prickett, & Clark, 2016). The complexity of the South African family stems in part from the history of apartheid as well as current socio-political challenges (Hall & Posel, 2018). Apartheid policies emphasized the dissolution of Black families, whereas the proliferation of the HIV/AIDS pandemic has compounded the already complex family structure (Madhavan, Mee, & Collinson, 2014;Sibanda, 2011).…”