Gender Differentials in Household Structure and Socioeconomic Characteristics in South Africa

Abstract

This study used the 2002 South Africa General Household Survey (GHS) to explore differentials in household structures and socioeconomic characteristics. Household structures by gender of head were examined to inform the types of household that females are more likely to head compared to males. The study found that females are more likely to form extended households than males. Household size in female headed households was also found to be larger than that in male headed households. The study utilized principal component analysis to estimate wealth of households. Wealth estimate results indicated that female headed households are poorer than male headed households. However, comparison between female headed households in urban areas and male headed households in rural areas indicated that the former were better off than the latter. The study recommends that governments should assist poor female headed households. Furthermore, the study cautions that generalization of poverty among female headed households should be avoided as it can mislead the policy formulation and subsequent interventions.

The influence of household composition on leisure time in South Africa: A gender comparison

“…There are several key gender differences in household composition: women typically reside in larger households than men, and with a larger number of children, employed individuals who work fulltime, and not-employed adults in the household, on average, compared to men. This is consistent with the literature, which indicates that women are often care-givers to children (Raley and Bianchi 2006), pensioners, and those who are sick (Dungumaro 2008), and live in larger households than men. Disaggregating the different types of household members by gender and age or nature of employment reveals more nuanced findings.…”

“…However, household composition in South Africa continues to differ both between race groups and in comparison to households in developed countries (Amoateng and Heaton 2015;Sooryamoorthy and Makhoba 2016). 2 For example, during apartheid, African households in rural areas often did not include adult males, who became migrant workers in urban areas, but were largely composed of females who generally lived together with other extended family members (Dungumaro 2008;Sooryamoorthy and Makhoba 2016). This and other household composition factors, such as the HIV/AIDS epidemic and urbanization, are likely to have important implications for time allocations because of the interplay between household members, expected gender roles, and the ways paid and unpaid activities are distributed among household members.…”

Housing and Marginality for Female-Headed Households: Observations from Msunduzi Municipality (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa)

“…Femaleheaded households (FHH) certainly formed the majority in our sample of poorer neighbourhoods in Msunduzi. The greater poverty of FHH in South Africa has been identified by numerous scholars, including Dungumaro (2008) and Armstrong, Lekezwa and Siebrits (2009), who report 2006 data showing that 45% of all femaleheaded households, compared to only 25% of male-headed households, lived below a "lower-bound" poverty line. Scholars have also already drawn attention to the increase in the number of FHH in other Southern African contexts such as Botswana and the former homelands of South Africa (Posel 2004;Jackson 2007;Moore 1994;Timaeus and Graham 1989), as indeed in other parts of the world.…”

Conflict and negotiation in intergenerational care: Older women’s experiences of caring with the Old Age Grant in South Africa

“…Furthermore, with declining marriage rates, women’s longer life expectancy and improved economic independence, female headship is increasing (Posel and Rogan, 2009). Instead of residing with partners, many older women live with younger kin and head multigenerational households (Posel, 2001; Dungumaro, 2008). Female headship has been associated with age, financial provision and decision-making (Posel, 2001).…”

“…Female headship has been associated with age, financial provision and decision-making (Posel, 2001). These households are important sites of financial and practical care; being larger and containing more dependents (unemployed adults, children, ill and disabled kin) than their male counterparts (Dungumaro, 2008).…”