JESSE POWELL writes:

As you know, South Africa is basking in the glow of the World Cup, the biggest sporting event anywhere and the first in an African country. PBS recently aired a disturbing profile of Cape Town, South Africa’s second largest city and one of the cities that is hosting the World Cup. The segment, aired on the Newshour on June 8, 2010, describes the gangsterism, drug addiction, and violent crime that is plaguing the city, where crystal methamphetamine is a big problem.

I thought your readers might like a view into family life and social statistics in South Africa.

According to Census figures, the total fertility rate for South Africa was 2.87 children per woman in 2001; 2.48 in 2007; and 2.38 for the most recent year, 2009. More interestingly, estimated for the year 2007, the fertility rate of the white population was 1.4 children per woman; for the Indian / Asian population, 1.4 children per woman; for the Coloured population, 2.3 children per woman, and for the African black population, 2.7 children per woman, for an overall total of 2.5 children per woman. 

Life expectancy at birth in South Africa, in 2001, was 52.3 years for men and 57.5 years for women. In 2009 it was 53.5 years for men and 57.2 years for women.  

Here is the racial breakdown of South Africa overall, in the 2001 Census, and the relationship status of the women in South Africa, 15 years and over, by race, from the 2001 Census. 

Census 2001
Total Population  44,819,778
79.0%  African / Black
8.9%    Coloured
2.5%    Indian / Asian
9.6%    White 

Relationship Status of Women by Race, 15 and over
Cape Town , from Census 2001

Marital Status of South African Women 20-24 years old who have had 1 child or more  

South Africa is a mixture of First World riches, mostly white, and Third World poverty, mostly black.  The employment figures count someone as unemployed if they report that they did not work in the 7 days prior to the interview, want to work and are available to work within a week of the interview, and have taken active steps to look for work or start some form of self-employment in the 4 weeks prior to the interview.  I suspect the very high unemployment rates among non-Whites recorded in South Africa is due to the non-white population not being integrated into the formal economy.  I suspect many South Africans work informally and sporadically and do not consider themselves “employed” in the normal sense of that term. 

That being said, below is some information on the employment situation in South Africa, which is quite bad. The first table shows the Employment Status of 15 to 64 year olds as reported in the 2001 Census.  NEA stands for Not Economically Active, out of the labor force. 

Employment Status of 15 to 64 year olds from the 2001 Census, using Official or Strict Definition of Unemployment

The table below from the Labor Force Survey shows how employment has changed for men and women from 2000 to 2007. 

Labor Force Survey Sept. 2000 to Sept. 2007, Labor Force Participation Rate of the 15-64 population

The above table shows, if anything, that women’s labor force participation has declined more rapidly than men’s in South Africa during recent years.  The only population group where this was not true was the Coloured population.  Just goes to show, it is not automatically true that men’s employment need suffer more than women’s during a period of contracting participation in the labor force. 

Next I will look at the educational attainment of men and women in South Africa, looking at the proportion of men and women, 20 years old and over, who have achieved more than 12 years of education, what in the United States would be called on census forms “some college” or higher.  The below comes from Census 2001 data. 

Census 2001 – Educational Attainment greater than 12 years schooling, 20 years old and over

You will notice among the Black population the proportion of women with a higher level of education is somewhat greater than for the men but for the other races men with higher education outnumber the women, by about 20% for Indian/Asians and Whites. 

Finally we will look at the labor force participation of men compared to women.  This indicator shows how well traditional gender roles are faring and how well women are able to look after their children.  A bigger difference between women’s participation in the work force and men’s is a good sign; a smaller difference is a bad sign.  More part-time work among women is a good sign, less is a bad sign. 

The below table shows the economically active population among those 15 to 64 years old.  F/M ratio indicates the Female to Male ratio of being economically active.  Male p/t represents Male part-time, the proportion of men who are employed that work only part-time.  Female p/t represents the same thing except for women. 

Census 2001 – Economically active population, 15 to 64 years old, with information on part-time work included

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