Changes in the development status of women in South Africa from 1996 to 2001: for the better or for the worse?

Abstract

The adoption of the 1996 Constitution mainstreamed women's issues in South Africa, but, despite the commendable progress in this sphere over the past ten years, success is only discernible if it translates into the betterment of women's lives. This paper aims to ascertain whether the development status of women improved or worsened between 1996 and 2001 by employing a gender-adjusted human development index (HDI). To offset the limitations of an aggregate measure, while compensating for the potentially distorting effects of HIV/AIDS on an aggregate human development indicator, a framework of supporting measures of well-being is also analysed to augment and validate the findings of the gender-specific HDI. The study finds that between 1996 and 2001 the development status of women in South Africa regressed, in both absolute and (especially) relative terms.

¹Respectively, Researcher, Department of Economics, University of the Free State; Distinguished Professor of Economics and Vice-Chancellor, University of the Free State; and Professor in Development Studies and Director of the Centre for Development Support, University of the Free State.

Notes

¹Respectively, Researcher, Department of Economics, University of the Free State; Distinguished Professor of Economics and Vice-Chancellor, University of the Free State; and Professor in Development Studies and Director of the Centre for Development Support, University of the Free State.

²The calculation of the gender-disaggregated and the standard HDI for South Africa is available from the authors upon request.

³Given the different data sources and the omission of tertiary gross enrolment figures from our calculations, it is to be expected that they will differ somewhat from the UNDP HDI figures.

⁴GER is defined as the number of learners, regardless of age, enrolled in a specific school phase as a percentage of the total appropriate school-age population. It is used to show the level of participation in education (DoE, 2003: 11).

⁶The illiteracy rate used in this analysis is defined as the percentage of the population older than fifteen years of age with no schooling. This excludes children aged below five.

⁵This section has Statistics South Africa (1998, 2003), and Global Insight SA (2004a) as its data sources.

⁷The sources used in this section are Strauss et al. (1996), StatsSA (1998, 2001) and DoE (2003).

⁸At first glance, the overall decline in primary school enrolment is disconcerting, yet the decline may be seen as an improvement if the oversubscription is due to a high level of repetition. Primary school furthermore offers an affordable childcare option for working mothers. A stricter enforcement of the minimum school-going age could therefore also have contributed to the general decline in GER.

⁹The sources used in this section are Strauss et al. (1996), StatsSA (1998, 2001) and DoE (2003).

¹⁰Since the 1996 enrolments were seemingly influenced by exogenous factors, we shall focus only on the 2001 ratio.

¹²1996–2001 – female population: 8.44% increase and female population (15–64 years) 10.74% increase; male population: 7.05% increase and male population (15–64 years) 8.9% increase.

¹¹This section uses data provided by Global Insight (2004a).

¹³It is notoriously difficult to capture accurately the extent of informal sector activity (Bhorat et al., 2001: 86; Muller, 2003), making the availability of accurate gender-stratified informal sector data even less tenable. Although this paper acknowledges the significant role of the informal sector in sustaining a large part of the female population of South Africa, the inclusion of this sector in our analysis was not deemed feasible. This clearly constitutes a statistical constraint to be borne in mind when interpreting the results of this paper.

¹⁴The dependency ratio is the size of the dependent population, being those aged below five and those aged over 64 years, as a percentage of the working age population, aged 15–64 years (UNDP, 2000: 277).

¹⁵Sources for this section are StatsSA (1998, 2001).

¹⁶This section uses data provided by Global Insight 2004a. Unemployment, in this section, follows the expanded definition, including both persons unemployed and looking for work and persons unemployed and not actively looking for work, but who would accept work if offered to them (Global Insight, 2004b: 32).

¹⁷This includes the technical narrowing in the ‘gender gap’ of households with zero income.