Leading consumer analytics company Eighty20 has shared insights on how South African households are changing as birth rates decline.
The material also explores the expense of raising children, the dynamics of marriage, the size of households, and the demographic make-up of the country.
It revealed that postponed family formation and child-bearing, as well as a drop in desired family sizes, have all contributed to the substantial decline in birth rates over the past few decades.
“The changing structure of South African households is affected by all these factors and, over time, has resulted in a very different-looking South Africa.
“These changes will have profound implications for not only dependency ratios, the labour market, the healthcare system, and overall GDP, but also the future of our country,” says Eighty20.
Cost of having children
Over the past few decades, the cost of having children has increased dramatically. According to a MiWayLife study cited in a recent Business Tech article, first-time parents in South Africa spend, on average, R100 000 a year raising a child.
Changes in marriage
Many South Africans are delaying marriage, sometimes permanently, due to a turbulent labour market, growing living costs, and alterations in societal norms.
The median age of brides increased from 31 in 2015 to 33 in 2021, while the median age of grooms went from 36 to 37 in the same period. This suggests that more people are marrying at older ages.
Household size
Families are becoming smaller. The average household size, which was 4.5 in 1996, dropped to 4 in 2001 and 3.6 in 2011, but it appears to have stabilised at 3.5 people per family in the 2022 Census.
KwaZulu-Natal continues to have the greatest average household size in 2022 (4.4), having had the largest household size in 1996 (5.1).
Gauteng remains the lowest at 2.8, having been the lowest at 3.8 in 1996. With an average household size of 3.3, the Western Cape, which was ranked second-lowest in 1996, stayed in the same place in 2022.
Demographic make-up of the population
South Africa is in a demographic transition, with the 0–4-year-old population, which plateaued in size in 2012, expected to show the sharpest decline of any age group over the next quarter of a century.
Almost half of all the births in any given year occur in Gauteng and KZN, consistent with South Africa’s population distribution. However, the data indicates that the births per population are higher in more rural provinces, such as KZN, Limpopo, and the Northern Cape. Provinces that are predominately urbanised, such as Gauteng and the Western Cape, have much lower births per population.
Family structure and type of household
The typical family structure in South Africa is dramatically different from most other countries, with a high incidence of extended families under one roof (grandparents and other dependants) and far too many single mothers.
Roughly two-thirds of women in South Africa with babies under the age of 2 are single (never married and not living together).
Mainly due to labour migration and low marital rates, one-fifth (21.3%) of children aged 17 years and younger do not live with their parents.
Many children are raised in extended families by their grandparents or other relatives, particularly in rural areas.
The Star