We know that the structures of families and of households have changed in recent decades and that this has had a profound affect on public policy planning and service delivery in South Africa. The institution of the family interfaces with other social institutions in any society it therefore stands to reason that the political, social and economic transformations resulting through colonialism and apartheid in South Africa have affected families and their residential dimension, the household, for all cultural groups.
Prior to the democratic transition in 1994, studies of families and households were limited by the political economy of apartheid in general, and more specifically, by inadequate quantitative socio-economic data.
Since the transition however, the proliferation of such data has largely overcome this problem, making it possible to undertake more representative, comprehensive studies than was the case in the past.
In this research monograph, a group of well-established social scientists from such diverse disciplines as economics, demography, sociology and psychology attempt to explain the myriad changes in families and households in South Africa following the end of apartheid.
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1. Social and economic context of families and households in South Africa
Acheampong Yaw Amoateng & Linda Richter
2. Towards a conceptual framework for families and households
Acheampong Yaw Amoateng
3. Living arrangements in South Africa
Acheampong Yaw Amoateng, Tim B Heaton & Ishmael Kalule-Sabiti
4. The economic well-being of the family: Households' access to resources in post-apartheid South Africa, 1995 - 2003
Daniela Casale & Chris Desmond
5. Family formation and dissolution patterns
Ishmael Kalule-Sabiti, Martin Palamuleni, Monde Makiwane & Acheampong Yaw Amoateng
6. Fertility and childbearing in South Africa
Martin Palamuleni, Ishmael Kalule-Sabiti & Monde Makiwane
7. Children's household work as a contribution to the well-being of the family and household
Sharmla Rama & Linda M Richter
8. The family context for racial differences in child mortality in South Africa
Tim B Heaton & Acheampong Yaw Amoateng
