Who cares for children? A quantitative study of childcare in South Africa

Figures & data

Table 1. Sex of the primary physical caregiver of children, 2008.

Proportion of children where the caregiver is:	Ages 0–3	Ages 4–6	Ages 7–14
	African
Female	0.966 (0.007)	0.950 (0.008)	0.922 (0.006)
Male	0.034 (0.007)	0.050 (0.008)	0.078 (0.006)
	Non-African
Female	0.918 (0.028)	0.864 (0.040)	0.883 (0.025)
Male	0.082 (0.028)	0.136 (0.040)	0.117 (0.025)

Source: NIDS 2008.

Note: The data are weighted. Standard errors are in parentheses. The primary caregiver is the main person who is responsible for ensuring that the child is fed, bathed, goes to school if eligible, helped with homework and taken care of when sick. Proportions are calculated for the sample of children aged 0–14 for whom information on the sex and age of their primary caregiver is not missing.

Table 2. Assistance in the provision of physical care to children.

Percentage of children:	One caregiver		More than one caregiver
All children	22.48 (0.006)		77.52 (0.006)
		African
Children (0–3 years)	20.39 (0.012)^a		79.61 (0.012)^a
Children (4–6 years)	23.14 (0.015)^a		76.86 (0.015)^a
Children (7–14 years)	26.96 (0.009)^a		73.04 (0.009)^a
		Non-African
Children (0–3 years)	9.41 (0.026)		90.59 (0.026)
Children (4–6 years)	10.09 (0.032)		89.91 (0.032)
Children (7–14 years)	13.92 (0.020)		86.08 (0.020)

Source: NIDS 2008.

Note: The data are weighted. Standard errors are in parentheses. The percentages are conditional on more than one caregiver being reported.

^aPercentages of African and non-African children are significantly different at the 95% confidence level.

Table 3. Relationship of primary caregivers to children, 2008.

Proportion of children where the caregiver is:	Ages 0–3	Ages 4–6	Ages 7–14
	African
Mother	0.745 (0.013)	0.663 (0.017)	0.617 (0.010)
Father	0.029 (0.007)	0.033 (0.007)	0.054 (0.005)
Grandmother	0.159 (0.010)	0.204 (0.013)	0.183 (0.008)
Other female	0.061 (0.007)	0.085 (0.010)	0.126 (0.007)
Other male	0.005 (0.002)	0.015 (0.004)	0.020 (0.003)
	Non-African
Mother	0.846 (0.033)	0.794 (0.045)	0.782 (0.027)
Father	0.064 (0.026)	0.105 (0.036)	0.103 (0.024)
Grandmother	0.036 (0.011)	0.050 (0.018)	0.057 (0.010)
Other female	0.045 (0.018)	0.023 (0.008)	0.044 (0.009)
Other male	0.008 (0.007)	0.028 (0.022)	0.014 (0.008)

Source: NIDS 2008.

Note: The data are weighted. Standard errors are in parentheses. Proportions are calculated for children for whom there is non-missing information on the sex and age of their primary caregiver, and on the child’s relationship to their caregiver.

Table 4. Parent mortality and primary caregivers of children by household type, 2008.

	African
	Nuclear	Parents & other adults	Mother (no other adults)	Mother & other adults	Father (no other adults)	Father & other adults	Other adults only
Proportion of children	0.133 (0.006)	0.140 (0.006)	0.084 (0.005)	0.362 (0.007)	0.004 (0.001)	0.021 (0.002)	0.242 (0.006)
Mother is dead					0.498 (0.124)	0.243 (0.045)	0.258 (0.012)
Father is dead			0.207 (0.025)	0.155 (0.009)			0.263 (0.012)
Mother is caregiver	0.882 (0.019)	0.876 (0.015)	0.988 (0.005)	0.897 (0.008)	0.016 (0.012)^a	0.003 (0.003)^a	0.012 (0.003)^a
Father is caregiver	0.118 (0.019)	0.113 (0.014)	0.012 (0.005)^a	0.001 (0.000)^a	0.984 (0.012)	0.292 (0.046)	0.002 (0.001)^a
Grandmother is caregiver		0.006 (0.003)		0.077 (0.007)		0.273 (0.052)	0.590 (0.014)
Other female is caregiver		0.005 (0.002)		0.019 (0.003)		0.414 (0.056)	0.344 (0.014)
Other male is caregiver				0.006 (0.002)		0.017 (0.013)	0.053 (0.006)
	Non-African
	Nuclear	Parents & other adults	Mother (no other adults)	Mother & other adults	Father (no other adults)	Father & other adults	Other adults only
Proportion of children	0.407 (0.026)	0.224 (0.019)	0.075 (0.012)	0.174 (0.016)	0.009 (0.005)	0.025 (0.007)	0.073 (0.009)
Mother is dead					0.007 (0.008)	0.389 (0.146)	0.189 (0.045)
Father is dead			0.158 (0.062)	0.114 (0.024)			0.204 (0.048)
Mother is caregiver	0.891 (0.030)	0.841 (0.039)	1	0.916 (0.024)			0.015 (0.009)^a
Father is caregiver	0.109 (0.030)	0.103 (0.034)			1	0.743 (0.111)
Grandmother is caregiver		0.038 (0.016)		0.062 (0.021)		0.054 (0.029)	0.422 (0.065)
Other female is caregiver		0.018 (0.016)		0.010 (0.004)		0.204 (0.102)	0.370 (0.064)
Other male is caregiver				0.012 (0.012)			0.193 (0.076)

Source: NIDS 2008.

Note: The data are weighted. Standard errors are in parentheses. Proportions are calculated for children for whom there is non-missing information on the sex and age of their primary caregiver, and on the child’s relationship to their caregiver.

^aThese mothers (and fathers) were identified as non-resident household members.

Table 5. Person(s) paying for educational expenses of children aged 7–14, 2008.

	African children	Non-African children
Proportion of children enrolled	0.979 (0.003)	0.985 (0.006)
More than one person pays^a	0.083 (0.006)^c	0.251 (0.033)
Status of payer:
Not a household member: absent	0.072 (0.005)	0.059 (0.016)
Household member: not-resident	0.056 (0.004)^c	0.009 (0.003)
Household member: resident:	0.871 (0.006)^c	0.932 (0.017)
Sex of payer if household member:
Female^b	0.723 (0.011)^c	0.500 (0.034)
Male^b	0.277 (0.011)^c	0.500 (0.034)

Source: NIDS 2008.

Note: The data are weighted. Standard errors are in parentheses.

^aProportions are calculated conditional on the child attending school.

^bProportions are calculated only where payers were (resident or non-resident) members of the household, and aged 15 years or older.

^cProportions of African and non-African children are significantly different at the 95% confidence level.

Table 6. Relationship of payers to children, 2008.

	African	Non-African
Mother	0.489 (0.013)^a	0.313 (0.032)
Father	0.185 (0.011)^a	0.398 (0.039)
Mother & father	0.068 (0.006)^a	0.207 (0.035)
Grandmother	0.134 (0.007)^a	0.018 (0.004)
Mother & grandmother	0.005 (0.002)	0
Father & grandmother	0	0
Other woman	0.075 (0.006)^a	0.039 (0.012)
Other man	0.030 (0.004)	0.015 (0.005)
Other combination of individuals	0.013 (0.003)	0.011 (0.004)

Source: NIDS 2008

Note: The data are weighted. Standard errors are in parentheses. The sample includes only those children where the payer is a member (resident or non-resident) of the child’s household, and the payer is 15 years or older.

^aProportions of African and non-African children are significantly different at the 95% confidence level.

Table 7. Contact with, and support by, absent and non-resident parents, 2008.

	African				Non-African
	Absent parents		Non-resident parents		Absent parents
	Mother	Father	Mother	Father	Mother	Father
Parent sees child:
Daily	0.043 (0.009)	0.054 (0.005)	0.011 (0.008)	0	0.199 (0.063)	0.141 (0.030)
Several times a week	0.141 (0.014)	0.124 (0.008)	0.098 (0.024)	0.172 (0.031)	0.189 (0.051)	0.113 (0.024)
Several times a month	0.394 (0.018)^a	0.246 (0.009)	0.552 (0.037)	0.512 (0.034)	0.276 (0.061)	0.168 (0.031)
Several times a year	0.342 (0.017)^a	0.262 (0.010)	0.317 (0.034)	0.310 (0.029)	0.169 (0.049)	0.204 (0.037)
Never	0.080 (0.009)^a	0.314 (0.010)	0.022 (0.010)	0.007 (0.004)	0.167 (0.060)^a	0.373 (0.040)
Proportion with parents who pay	0.496 (0.019)^a	0.377 (0.011)	0.733 (0.033)	0.831 (0.023)	0.449 (0.072)	0.460 (0.043)
Last payment received (Rands)	312.521(13.121)^a	483.869 (44.176)	324.465 (32.009)^a	641.247 (57.831)	438. 651 (106.482)	589.742 (75.920)

Source: NIDS 2008.

Note: The data are weighted. Standard errors are in parentheses. The residency status of parents is determined by information collected in the household roster. The sample includes all children whose mother or father is not co-resident with the children. Two children who were reported as receiving R130 000 as their last maintenance payment from their father were dropped from the sample.

^aDenotes significant differences between children’s mothers and fathers within each of the three categories that indicate absent or non-resident parents.

Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit. National Income Dynamics Study, 2008. Wave 1 [dataset]. Version 5.2. Cape Town: Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit [producer], 2015. Cape Town: DataFirst [distributor], 2015.

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