Human and social capital in Soweto in 1999: Report on a field study

Abstract

This article summarises data that were gathered in a 1 000-household survey conducted in Soweto in mid-1999, the purpose of which was to test some hypotheses on the interrelationships between certain kinds of human capital and social capital. Information was collected on education and other forms of human capital, as well as on a number of social capital factors under the categories of household composition, group membership, values and various forms of trust. Household expenditure was also explored in detail, both as a proxy for household income and in order to determine current investment in human and social capital. The article contains the tabulations of all the information gathered, plus a number of cross-tabulations showing links that are of possible interest. The statistics are adjusted for survey design, and are thus applicable to Soweto as a whole.