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

Figures & data

Figure 1: South Africa's human development index 1990–2001. Source: UNDP (2003b)

Table 1: Standard methodology HDI for South Africa

	1996	2001
Standard HDI	0.7537	0.6800
Source: Authors' calculation

Figure 2: South Africa's gender-specific HDI. Source: Authors' calculation

Table 2: Life expectancy in South Africa

	1965	1989	1994	1996	2001
Female life expectancy	54	65	66.8	68	54.4
Male life expectancy	49	58	60.8	60.9	47.7
Sources: World Bank (1991), UNDP (1997, 2003a).

Figure 3: Illiteracy in South Africa

Table 3: Illiteracy

Perspective	1996	2001	Change (1996–2001)
Incidence level	4.13 million women and 3.58 million men	3.63 million women and 2.76 million men	492 800 (11.95%) decrease in illiterate females; 818 300 (22.88%) decrease in illiterate males
Share level	Illiterate group = 53.57% female + 46.43% male	Illiterate group = 56.85% female + 43.15% male	6.56 percentage point increase in ‘share gap’ (i.e. increase in the female predominance)
Level of predominance (i.e. an illiteracy rate)	28.88 in 100 females and 26.23 in 100 males	22.87 in 100 females and 18.51 per 100 males	20.81% decrease in female illiteracy; 29.44% decrease in male illiteracy
Level of gender parity ratio	1.15 illiterate women per 1 illiterate man	1.32 illiterate women per 1 illiterate man	14.78% widening in the ‘gender gap’
Source: Statistics South Africa (1998, 2003); Global Insight SA (2004a).

Figure 4: Primary school enrolment in South Africa

Table 4: Primary school education

Perspective	1996	2001	Change (1996–2001)
Incidence level	4.03 million girls and 4.11 million boys enrolled	3.62 million girls and 3.79 million boys enrolled	404 000 (10.04%) decrease in girls' enrolment; 321 000 (7.8%) decrease in boys' enrolment
Share level	Primary school enrolment = 49.49% girls + 50.51% boys	Primary school enrolment = 48.88% girls + 51.12% boys	1.22 percentage point increase in the ‘share gap’, (i.e. increasing the male advantage held in 1996)
Level of predominance (i.e. gross enrolment ratio or GER)	124.3% girls' primary school GER and 128.07% boys' primary school GER	102.96% girls' primary school GER and 108.27% boys' primary school GER	17.17% decrease in girls' primary school GER; 15.46% decrease in boys' primary school GER
Level of gender parity ratio	0.98 girls per 1 boy in primary school	0.96 girls per 1 boy in primary school	2.4% widening in the ‘gender gap’
Source: Strauss et al. (1996); StatsSA (1998, 2001); DoE (2003)

Figure 5: Secondary school enrolment in South Africa

Table 5: Secondary school education

Perspective	1996	2001	Change (1996–2001)
Incidence level	2.11 million girls and 1.8 million boys enrolled	2.13 million girls and 1.9 million boys enrolled	15 000 (0.7%) increase in girls' enrolment; 104 000 (5.78%) increase in boys' enrolment
Share level	Secondary school enrolment = 53.97% girls + 46.03% boys	Secondary school enrolment = 52.75% girls + 47.25% boys	2.45 percentage point decrease in the ‘share gap’ (i.e. diminishing the advantageous position that girls had in 1996)
Level of predominance (i.e. GER)	96.42% female secondary school GER and 85.19% male secondary school GER	84.14% female secondary school GER and 77.41% male secondary school GER	12.74% decrease in female secondary school GER; 9.13% decrease in male secondary school GER
Level of gender parity ratio	1.17 girls per 1 boy enrolled in secondary school	1.12 girls per 1 boy enrolled in secondary school	4.27% narrowing in the ‘gender gap’
Source: Strauss et al. (1996); StatsSA (1998, 2001); DoE (2003).

Table 6: Continuance of education – enrolment ratios of secondary to primary school

	Ratio of secondary to primary school enrolment
	1996	2001
Girls	0.5364	0.5911
Boys	0.4521	0.5122

Figure 6: Economically active population of South Africa

Table 7: Income – economically active population (EAP)

Perspective	1996	2001	Change (1996–2001)
Incidence level	6.16 million female EAP and 7.42 million male EAP	7.76 million female EAP and 9.31 million male EAP	1.60 million (25.91%) increase in women joining the EAP; 1.89 million (25.52%) increase in men joining the EAP
Share level	EAP = 45.36% women + 54.64% men	EAP = 45.44% women + 54.56% men	0.16 percentage point decrease in ‘share gap’, (i.e. diminishing the advantageous position of men in 1996)
Level of predominance (i.e. an economic activity rate)	29 of every 100 females and 35.79 of every 100 males were economically active	33.61 of every 100 females and 41.91 of every 100 males were economically active	15.89% increase in female economic activity rate; 17.08% increase in male economic activity rate
Level of gender parity ratio	0.8302 economically active women per 1 economically active man	0.8327 economically active women per 1 economically active man	0.31% narrowing in the ‘gender gap’
Source: Global Insight (2004a).

Figure 7: Economically active women relative to the female population (millions)

Figure 8: Zero income households in South Africa

Table 8: Household income

Perspective	1996	2001	Change (1996–2001)
Incidence level	566 900 female-headed households had no income; 574 600 male-headed households had no income	1.37 million female-headed households had no income; 1.36 million male-headed households had no income	800 200 increase in female-headed households with zero income (141.17%); 790 400 increase in male-headed households with zero income (137.57%)
Share level	Households with no income = 49.66% female-headed + 50.34% male-headed	Households with no income = 50.04% female-headed + 49.96% male-headed	Swapping of the ‘share gap’ position from a marginal minority (lagging 0.69 percentage points behind men) to a marginal majority for women (leading by 0.08 percentage points), i.e. diminishing the male-headed household predominance in this area
Level of predominance (i.e. a poverty rate)	18.38 of every 100 female-headed households and 11.71 in every 100 male-headed households had no income	27.71 of every 100 female-headed households and 19.96 in every 100 male-headed households had no income	50.76% increase in female-headed household poverty rate; 70.45% increase in male-headed household poverty rate (due to a lower starting basis)
Level of gender parity ratio	0.987 female-headed households with zero income per 1 male-headed household with zero income	1.002 female-headed households with zero income per 1 male-headed household with zero income	Swapping of predominance in the ‘gender gap’ (technically, a narrowing of the ‘gender gap’ of 1.52%), moving from trailing to leading male-headed households in poverty, therefore indicating a relative loss for female-headed households
Source: StatsSA (1998, 2001).

Figure 9: Unemployment in South Africa

Table 9: Unemployment

Perspective	1996	2001	Change (1996–2001)
Incidence level	2.58 million women and 2.02 million men unemployed	3.71 million women and 2.88 million men unemployed	1 126 600 increase in unemployed women (43.64%); 856 800 increase in unemployed men (42.36%)
Share level	Unemployed group = 56.07% women + 43.93% men	Unemployed group = 56.29% women + 43.71% men	0.44 percentage point increase in ‘share gap’ (i.e. marginally increasing female predominance in this area)
Level of predominance (i.e. an unemployment rate)^a	19.49 of every 100 women and 15.67 in every 100 men between 15 and 64 unemployed	25.29 of every 100 women and 20.48 in every 100 men between 15 and 64 unemployed	29.76% increase in the female 15–64 years unemployment rate; 30.7% increase in the male 15–64 years unemployment rate
Level of gender parity ratio	1.276 unemployed females per 1 unemployed male	1.287 unemployed females per 1 unemployed male	0.86% widening in the ‘gender gap’
^aThis is not to be confused with estimated rates, such as the Global Insight unemployment rate (Global Insight, 2004b: 31), which puts the unemployment rate for women at 42.7% for 1996 and 48.8% for 2001, and that for men at 27.3% and 30.0% respectively.
Source: Global Insight (2004a).

Table 10: Changes in the development status of women in South Africa between 1996 and 2001

	Absolute status			Relative status
Area	Improvement	Worsening	Unchanged	Improvement	Worsening	Unchanged
Life expectancy		✓		✓
Literacy	✓				✓
Primary school enrolment		✓			✓
Secondary school enrolment	✓				✓
Combined school enrolment		✓			✓
EAP	✓					✓
Household income		✓			✓
Unemployment		✓			✓

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