HOUSEHOLD FORMATION, POVERTY AND UNEMPLOYMENT — THE CASE OF RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN SOUTH AFRICA¹

Intergenerational Coresidence in Developing Countries

“…With rising female labor-force participation in many countries, the demand for services that can be provided by elders-such as grandchild care and housework-may be on the rise in some areas (e.g., Morgan and Hirosima 1983;Chamratrithirong, Morgan, and Rindfuss 1988;Hirschman and Minh 2002;Sasaki 2002; for contrasting evidence, see Logan, Bian, and Bian 1998). Some developing countries have seen unstable or declining employment prospects for young people despite significant economic growth, and some have introduced pension programs for the aged; both of these factors may encourage the younger generation to remain in their parental homes after reaching adulthood (Keller 2004;Camarano 2002;De Vos and Andrade 2005;Duryea, Jaramillo, and Pages 2003) More broadly, it is possible that rising incomes-especially among the older generationhave allowed more people to achieve their preferred family structure. Goode (1963: 17) observed that "the lower strata inmost societies live in small households."…”

Integration into the South African core economy: household‐level covariates

“…It has been noted by Keller (2003) that poor households differ from the non-poor in terms of generation structure. An explanation for that phenomenon which is consistent with the results here would be based on public transfer incomes largely being age-driven and strongly associated with low-income households, unemployed and inactive members, as well as with young children.…”

“…Secondly, Edmonds et al (2003) have also found that the income from an OAPs-eligible person in the household may serve to finance younger members' migration. Keller (2003) reports higher prevalence of multi-generational demographic household structures among the poorest forty percent of households, as measured by per capita income. On the same note, Edmonds et al (2003) find that female, pensions-eligible household heads are more likely to reside with their adult children than with certain other relations.…”

“…A growing body of literature however also suggests that the living arrangements of South African households alter in response to the economic circumstances of individual members, such as access to certain sources of income (Klasen and Woolard 2001;Edmonds, Mammen, and Miller 2003;Keller 2003).…”

Poverty, networks and location: the determinants of job‐search in South Africa

“…The variables controlled for in the model include highest standard of education achieved, recent training, age, gender, head of household, marital status, number of children, distance from nearest telephone (to indicate extent of isolation) and local unemployment rate. The September 2001 and 2002 Labour Force Surveys (LFS) are used in the analysis representing a far more recent survey than those used in Kingdon and Knight (2006) and Keller (2004). The LFS was piloted in February 2000, replacing the October Household Surveys of the 1990s.…”