Patterns of fertility in contemporary South Africa: Prevalence and associated factors

Figures & data

Table 1. Percentage distribution of married women by selected socioeconomic and demographic characteristics on relationship status

Independent variables	Never-married		Cohabiting		Ever-married		Total
	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Age
15–19	1461	97.1	28	1.9	16	1.1	1505	17.7
20–24	1160	82.4	152	10.8	96	6.8	1408	16.5
25–29	888	63.6	230	16.5	279	20.0	1397	16.4
30–34	581	44.9	242	18.7	472	36.4	1295	15.2
35–39	423	41.0	152	14.7	457	44.3	1032	12.1
40–44	348	36.1	111	11.5	505	52.4	964	11.3
45–49	273	29.9	101	11.1	539	59.0	913	10.7
Race
Black/African	4618	62.8	857	11.6	1884	25.6	7359	86.4
Others	516	44.7	159	13.8	480	41.6	1155	13.6
Ethnicity
English	525	60.9	111	12.9	226	26.2	862	10.1
Afrikaans	432	59.0	81	11.1	219	29.9	732	8.6
Nguni	1969	60.1	378	11.5	929	28.4	3276	38.5
Sotho	1842	61.3	354	11.8	807	26.9	3003	35.3
Tshivenda/Xitsonga	366	57.1	92	14.4	183	28.5	641	7.5
Level of Education
Below Secondary	470	44.7	228	21.7	354	33.7	1052	12.4
Secondary	4207	63.9	711	10.8	1663	25.3	6581	77.3
Post-secondary	457	51.9	77	8.7	347	39.4	881	10.3
Employment Status
Unemployed	3631	67.1	604	11.2	1174	21.7	5409	63.5
Employed	1503	48.4	412	13.3	1190	38.3	3105	36.5
Wealth Index
Poorer	2298	63.3	528	14.6	802	22.1	3628	42.6
Middle	1180	60.3	260	13.3	516	26.4	1956	23.0
Richer	1656	56.5	228	7.8	1046	35.7	2930	34.4
Place of Residence
Urban	2738	57.0	628	13.1	1439	29.9	4805	56.4
Rural	2396	64.6	388	10.5	925	24.9	3709	43.6
Province
Western Cape	326	49.7	71	10.8	259	39.5	656	7.7
Eastern Cape	659	63.3	67	6.4	315	30.3	1041	12.2
Northern Cape	402	56.0	122	17.0	194	27.0	718	8.4
Free State	487	57.0	86	10.1	281	32.9	854	10.0
KwaZulu-Natal	1045	76.8	108	7.9	207	15.2	1360	16.0
North West	487	56.4	145	16.8	231	26.8	863	10.1
Gauteng	430	49.8	162	18.8	271	31.4	863	10.1
Mpumalanga	612	58.1	186	17.6	256	24.3	1054	12.4
Limpopo	686	62.1	69	6.2	350	31.7	1105	13.0
Household Size
1–2	732	52.6	267	19.2	392	28.2	1391	16.3
3–5	2137	52.6	550	13.6	1372	33.8	4059	47.7
6+	2265	73.9	199	6.5	600	19.6	3064	36.0
Age at First Sex
≤14 years	289	55.3	81	15.5	153	29.3	523	6.1
> 14 years	4845	60.6	935	11.7	2211	27.7	7991	93.9
Contraception Use
No	2881	64.2	456	10.2	1152	25.7	4489	52.7
Yes	2253	56.0	560	13.9	1212	30.1	4025	47.3
Total	5134	60.3	1016	11.9	2364	27.8	8514	100.0

Source: Authors’ computation from SADHS (2016)

Figure 1. Schematic framework showing the percentage distribution of children ever born by relationship status. Source: Authors’ computation from SADHS (2016)

Table 2. Mean number of children ever born to women by selected sociodemographic factors

	Never Married			Cohabiting			Ever Married
	Number of women	Mean number of births per woman	Std. Deviation	Number of women	Mean number of births per woman	Std. Deviation	Number of women	Mean number of births per woman	Std. Deviation
Age
15–19	181	1.07	.259	15	1.13	.352	9	1.22	.441
20–24	625	1.28	.551	116	1.48	.653	78	1.42	.614
25–29	735	1.65	.764	209	2.02	1.002	254	1.98	.891
30–34	504	1.99	1.043	225	2.41	1.087	447	2.39	1.072
35–39	387	2.40	1.270	143	2.92	1.594	435	2.78	1.296
40–44	317	2.68	1.315	104	3.35	1.863	484	3.19	1.596
45–49	245	2.78	1.493	94	3.48	1.727	517	3.44	1.698
Race
Black/African	2757	1.91	1.131	782	2.47	1.486	1797	2.88	1.547
Others	237	1.78	1.030	124	2.56	1.211	427	2.44	1.110
Ethnicity
English	277	1.86	1.103	102	2.59	1.667	206	2.80	1.503
Afrikaans	261	1.98	1.237	70	2.50	1.225	209	2.80	1.540
Nguni	1153	1.87	1.105	340	2.52	1.423	892	2.82	1.496
Sotho	1047	1.87	1.107	310	2.42	1.445	749	2.78	1.468
Tshivenda/Xitsonga	256	2.06	1.165	84	2.37	1.495	168	2.72	1.397
Level of Education
Below Secondary	322	2.82	1.516	210	3.26	1.852	333	3.90	1.965
Secondary	2401	1.82	1.030	633	2.29	1.231	1574	2.67	1.309
Higher	271	1.52	.783	63	1.81	.913	317	2.29	1.124
Employment Status
Unemployed	1811	1.84	1.115	528	2.48	1.489	1102	2.97	1.568
Employed	1183	1.98	1.131	378	2.48	1.399	1122	2.63	1.374
Wealth Index
Poorer	1444	2.04	1.207	482	2.68	1.595	767	3.23	1.726
Middle	716	1.88	1.102	227	2.32	1.368	492	2.92	1.483
Richer	834	1.66	.937	197	2.18	1.053	965	2.39	1.124
Place of Residence
Urban	1534	1.80	1.063	551	2.30	1.249	1334	2.54	1.263
Rural	1460	1.99	1.177	355	2.75	1.684	890	3.19	1.688
Province
Western Cape	159	1.78	1.004	62	2.42	1.095	237	2.48	1.170
Eastern Cape	399	1.92	1.190	57	2.37	1.633	297	3.08	1.675
Northern Cape	236	1.77	.958	106	2.43	1.295	181	2.64	1.312
Free State	254	1.65	1.002	79	2.16	1.285	262	2.63	1.374
KwaZulu-Natal	641	1.98	1.149	100	2.85	1.708	189	2.96	1.777
North West	311	2.01	1.140	128	2.55	1.606	223	2.83	1.357
Gauteng	236	1.90	1.022	146	2.18	1.237	251	2.39	1.186
Mpumalanga	372	1.86	1.152	167	2.64	1.549	244	3.09	1.772
Limpopo	386	1.97	1.215	61	2.66	1.290	340	2.96	1.416
Household Size
1–2	421	1.71	.892	202	1.87	1.152	305	2.30	1.231
3–5	1179	1.89	1.054	525	2.37	1.252	1331	2.57	1.214
6+	1394	1.96	1.233	179	3.50	1.756	588	3.56	1.838
Age at First Sex
≤14 years	215	2.08	1.241	73	3.01	1.646	145	3.14	1.550
> 14 years	2779	1.88	1.113	833	2.43	1.425	2079	2.77	1.476
Contraceptive Use
No	1264	2.00	1.243	374	2.38	1.492	1041	2.78	1.602
Yes	1730	1.82	1.021	532	2.55	1.419	1183	2.81	1.370

Source: Authors’ computation from SADHS (2016)

Table 3. Bivariate association of socioeconomic and demographic characteristics and fertility with relationship status

Independent variables	Number	% Non-marital	p value	Number	% Cohabiting	p value	Number	% Marital	p value
Age			<.001			<.001			<.001
15–19	181	12.4		15	53.6		9	56.3
20–24	625	53.9		116	76.3		78	81.3
25–29	735	82.8		209	90.9		254	91.0
30–34	504	86.7		225	93.0		447	94.7
35–39	387	91.5		143	94.1		435	95.2
40–44	317	91.1		104	93.7		484	95.8
45–49	245	89.7		94	93.1		517	95.9
Race			<.001			<.001			<.001
Black/African	2757	59.7		782	91.2		1797	95.4
Others	237	45.9		124	78.0		427	89.0
Ethnicity			<.001			0.542			0.006
English	277	52.8		102	91.9		206	91.2
Afrikaans	261	60.4		70	86.4		209	95.4
Nguni	1153	58.6		340	89.9		892	96.0
Sotho	1047	56.8		310	87.6		749	92.8
Tshivenda/Xitsonga	256	69.9		84	91.3		168	91.8
Level of Education			<.001			0.042			0.061
Below Secondary	322	68.5		210	92.1		333	94.1
Secondary	2401	57.1		633	89.0		1574	94.6
Post-secondary	271	59.3		63	81.8		317	91.4
Employment Status			<.001			0.031			0.666
Unemployed	1811	49.9		528	87.4		1102	93.9
Employed	1183	78.7		378	91.7		1122	94.3
Wealth Index			<.001			0.074			0.004
Poorer	1444	62.8		482	91.3		767	95.6
Middle	716	60.7		227	87.3		492	95.3
Richer	834	50.4		197	86.4		965	92.3
Place of Residence			<.001			0.061			<.001
Urban	1534	56.0		551	87.7		1334	92.7
Rural	1460	60.9		355	91.5		890	96.2
Province			<.001			0.818			0.034
Western Cape	159	48.8		62	87.3		237	91.5
Eastern Cape	399	60.5		57	85.1		297	94.3
Northern Cape	236	58.7		106	86.9		181	93.3
Free State	254	52.2		79	91.9		262	93.2
KwaZulu-Natal	641	61.3		100	92.6		189	91.3
North West	311	63.9		128	88.3		223	96.5
Gauteng	236	54.9		146	90.1		251	92.6
Mpumalanga	372	60.8		167	89.8		244	95.3
Limpopo	386	56.3		61	88.4		340	97.1
Household Size			<.001			<.001			<.001
1–2	421	57.5		202	75.7		305	77.8
3–5	1179	55.2		525	95.5		1331	97.0
6+	1394	61.5		179	89.9		588	98.0
Age at First Sex			<.001			0.774			0.707
≤14 years	215	74.4		73	90.1		145	94.8
> 14 years	2779	57.4		833	89.1		2079	94.0
Contraception Use			<.001			<.001			<.001
No	1264	43.9		374	82.0		1041	90.4
Yes	1730	76.8		532	95.0		1183	97.6

Source: Authors’ computation from SADHS (2016)

Table 4. Multivariate model using binary logistic regression technique predicting fertility by relationship status controlling for selected socioeconomic characteristics

Independent variables	Never-married		Cohabiting		Ever-married
	Odds Ratio	CI	Odds Ratio	CI	Odds Ratio	CI
Age
15–19	0.02***	0.01–0.03	0.04***	0.01–0.13	0.02***	0.01–0.03
20–24	0.05***	0.03–0.08	0.13***	0.05–0.35	0.05***	0.02–0.12
25–29	0.26***	0.16–0.41	0.51	0.19–1.35	0.21***	0.10–0.41
30–34	0.40***	0.25–0.66	0.76	0.28–2.07	0.44*	0.23–0.86
35–39	0.81	0.47–1.40	0.69	0.23–2.10	0.48*	0.24–0.94
40–44	0.83	0.47–1.45	1.19	0.37–3.82	0.56	0.29–1.11
45–49	1.00		1.00		1.00
Race
Black/African			5.05***	2.90–8.79	3.25***	2.02–5.24
Others			1.00		1.00
Ethnicity
English					1.00
Afrikaans					1.43	0.58–3.49
Nguni					2.11*	1.08–4.14
Sotho					1.07	0.56–2.05
Tshivenda/Xitsonga					1.01	0.43–2.40
Level of Education
Below Secondary	1.00		1.00
Secondary	1.31	0.95–1.80	0.71	0.37–1.35
Higher	0.64*	0.43–0.95	0.24**	0.10–0.60
Wealth Index
Poorer	1.00				1.00
Middle	0.69***	0.57–0.85			0.69	0.37–1.29
Richer	0.46***	0.38–0.56			0.43**	0.25–0.73
Household Size
1–2	1.00		1.00		1.00
3–5	2.34***	1.85–2.96	7.92***	4.53–13.84	13.61***	8.66–21.39
6+	3.91***	3.08–4.97	3.15***	1.66–5.96	26.87***	12.07–51.22
Age at First Sex
≤14 years	2.51***	1.76–3.59
> 14 years	1.00
Contraceptive Use
No	1.00		1.00		1.00
Yes	4.61***	3.90–5.44	5.45***	3.22–9.23	5.06***	3.17–8.06

* Significant at 0.05 level, ** Significant at 0.01 level, *** Significant at 0.001 level and 1.00 is reference category. Source: Authors’ computation from SADHS (2016)

South Africa Demographic and Health Survey(SADHS). (2016). Retrieved from [email protected]

 Google Scholar