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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Racial differences in marital status and living arrangements of older persons in South Africa | | Author(s) | Chuks J Mba |
| Journal title | Generations Review, vol 15, no 2, April 2005 |
| Pages | pp 23-31 |
| Source | (Editorial e-mail address) gr@ageing.ox.ac.uk |
| Keywords | Demography ; Marital status ; Ethnic groups ; Living patterns ; South Africa. |
| Annotation | Micro-data from the 1996 South Africa census is used to provide a descriptive analysis of racial and sex differences in older South Africans' demographic characteristics and living arrangements. The results confirm broad gender patterns in older populations also observed in other societies, and show marked racial and gender patterns in family and residential circumstances. Older women are more likely to live in rural areas than older men, while older men are more likely to live in urban areas than their female counterparts. Among Whites, a significant proportion (30%) are either never married or divorced. More than 50% of non-Whites live in extended households, while the majority of Whites live in nuclear households, and 10% live alone. The vast majority of older men and 51% of older women, particularly older African women, are heads of their households. The need for further research on quality and dynamics of old age support within different residential and family structures is highlighted. Such evidence is necessary to identify and respond to the needs and vulnerability of different groups of older people. Specific attention must be given to the disadvantages faced by Africans in the aftermath of apartheid. This paper was first presented at the conference, "Research on Ageing, Health and Poverty in Africa: Forging Directions for the Future", hosted by the Oxford Institute of Ageing, 11-13 April 2005. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-050418203 A |
| Classmark | S8: SLM: TK: K7: 7PM |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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