Population Trends and Social Development

with Special Reference to Gender and the

Empowerment of Women: National

Experiences Challenges and Successes

BRICS INAUGRAL SEMINAR ON

POPULATION MATTERS: MPUMALANGA,

SOUTH AFRICA: 01-03 MARCH 2014

SOUTH AFRICA

PRESENTATION OUTLINE

1. Population and Socio-Economic Trends:

– Reflecting on selected current and projected population

trends and socio-economic trends:

• What are the implications for social welfare?

2. Social Security and Welfare:

– Key legislative and policy thrusts

– Scope of social security in South Africa

– Uptake of social security with special reference to the gender

dimension

3. National Experiences

– Successes – Impact of social security programme

– Remaining challenges

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Census 2011

Census 2001

DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE: PAST &

CURRENT Census 2001

• Count - 44.8 million

• TFR – 2.92 children per woman

Census 2011

• Count - 51.7 million

• Males: 48.2% - Females: 51.7%

• National median age – 25

• Over a third of the population is

under the age of 15

2013 Mid-Year Population

Estimates

• Count - 52.98 million

• TFR – 2.34 children per woman

Source: Statistics South Africa (2003, 2012, 2013)

SOCIO-ECONOMIC TRENDS

Poverty

• Irrespective of the choice of poverty line, poverty

disproportionately affects females more than males.

• Single-parent, rural, female headed households are

more vulnerable; in some instances twice as likely to

be poor than male counterparts.

• Women are poorer than men and have less access to

opportunities and development resources necessary

to overcome poverty (e.g. land, housing, marine

resources, employment and education).

SOCIO-ECONOMIC TRENDS

Employment

• Census 2011 showed an unemployment rate of

29.8% of which 34.6% of females and 25.6% of

males were unemployed

• Labour absorption rate is lower for Black/African

women compared to other population groups.

• Women more dependent on survivalist activities in

informal sector – low wages, high insecurity &

increased vulnerability

SOCIO-ECONOMIC TRENDS

Education

• Equitable access to education for boys and girls has been

achieved in both primary as well as secondary school .

• Poor conversion of educational attendance into the

completion of the secondary school phase, entry into higher

education and completion of post-school qualifications

remains a challenge.

• Whilst an improvement from Census 1996 and 2001,

considerable gender differences between the numbers of

men (7.2%) and women (9.9. %) over the age of 20 years

with no formal education were noted in Census 2011.

• Whilst enrolment rates are high, attendance and drop-out

rates remain a challenge.

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SOCIO-ECONOMIC TRENDS

Living Conditions

• Similar proportions of male and female headed

households in formal dwellings.

• Male-headed households likely to be informal dwellings

as opposed to traditional dwellings for female

counterparts (Living Conditions Survey, 2008/09 -

Statistics South Africa, 2013)

• Female headed households had poorer access to basic

services (electricity, water and sanitation) than male-

headed households

FIGURE 1: DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE:

PROJECTED TO 2030 • If fertility continues to decline;

the population could reach

58.5 million by 2030

• Given the distinct gender

inequality of the socio-

economic trends described;

how can the social welfare of

the population (especially

women) be met?

• How does social security

alleviate pressures and

provide relief?

Source: National Development Plan

(2011)

“everyone has the right to have access to social security

including, if they are unable to support themselves and their

dependants, appropriate social assistance” S.27 (1) (c)

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa

SOUTH AFRICAN

CONSTITUTION (1996)

“state must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of each of these rights” S.27(2)

RELEVANT LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK

Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996

Social Assistance Act, 2004

South African Social Security Agency Act, 2004

Road Accident Fund Act, 1996

Compensation for Occupational Injuries and

Diseases Act, 1993

Unemployment Insurance Fund Act, 2001

Medical Schemes Act, 1998

OTHER KEY LEGISLATION/STRATEGY

IMPACTING ON SOCIAL SECURITY

Children’s Act (38/2005)

Older Persons Act (13/2006)

White Paper on Families (2012)

National Policy Framework on the

Empowerment of Women and Gender Equality (2000)

Gender Mainstreaming Strategy

OVERVIEW OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE

PROGRAMME • The aim is to improve the living circumstances and well-being of

the poorest and most vulnerable people in the country.

• The program is provided is in cash or in-kind to enable

beneficiaries to meet their basic needs.

• It is non-contributory and financed through general tax

revenues.

• Subsidies should be transparent and subject to regulation and

governance.

• Social assistance should, as far as possible, encourage

employment creation and formal sector participation.

• Currently (February 2014), there approximately 16 million

beneficiaries most of which are children and the elderly.

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SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMMES

SOCIAL ASSISTANCE

Child support

Grant (CSG)

Foster Child Grant (FCG)

Older Persons

Grant (OPG)

Grant in Aid (GIA)

Social Relief (SR)

War Veterans

Grant (WVG)

Disability Grant (DG)

Care Dependency Grant (CDG)

TABLE 1:PROVSION OF SOCIAL SECURITY

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Type of Grant 2002/03 2005/06 2008/09 2011/12 Feb 2014

Old Age 1 903 042 2 098 903 2 234 454 2 682 204 2 953 710

War Veteran 5 266 3 306 1 889 948 439

Disability 694 232 1 299 894 1 416 210 1 230 811 1 117 579

Foster Children 95 216 261 475 445 909 521 435 497 164

Care Dependency 34 978 85 467 102 965 112 788 120 579

Child Support Grant 1 907 774 5 667 220 8 217 658 10 464 682 11 068 718

Total 4 640 508 9 416 265 12 419 085 15 012 868 15 758 189

• Consistent increase in uptake of all types of grants

• Steady increase in uptake of Old Age and Child Support Grant

• Increases in Care Dependency and Foster Grant noted in later years

• Slight decrease noted for Disability Grant for later years

TABLE 2: TYPE OF GRANT BY SEX National Male Female Total

Child Support Grant 111 296 5 989 366 6 100 662

Older Persons Grant 1 009 066 1 942 547 2 951 613

War Veteran 348 92 440

Disability Grant 512 705 602 239 1 114 944

Foster Care Grant 60 075 323 782 383 857

Combination 278 9 427 9 705

Care Dependency 3 627 114 386 118 013

TOTAL 1 697 395 8 981 839 10 679 234

• More females are recipients of Older Persons Grant and Disability

Grant

N.B: Table 2 shows the gender split for all grants except the children's

grants (i.e. Care Dependency, Foster Care and Child Support Grant).

Gender split for these grants show sex of caregiver/parents of the children

IMPACT OF SOCIAL SECURITY ON

BENEFICIARIES Improving Income Equality and Employment

• Studies (e.g. Samson et al, 2002 and 2004) have shown that social grants provide potential market participants with the resources and economic security to invest in high-risk/ high-reward job search.

• It further found that households receiving social grants are better able to improve their productivity and as a result earn higher wage/salary increases.

• At macro-economic level social grants tends to increase domestic employment.

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IMPACT OF SOCIAL SECURITY ON

BENEFICIARIES Benefit to Households

• Yields positive impacts in reducing poverty, promoting job search and

increasing school attendance.

• Spending in households that receive social grants focuses more on

basics like food .

• Increased spending on food is associated with better nutritional

outcomes.

• Households that receive social grants have lower prevalence rates of

hunger for young children as well as older children and adults, even

compared to those households with comparable income levels.

• Lower spending on health care, possibly due to social grants being

associated with other positive outcomes that reduce the need for

medical care.

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IMPACT OF SOCIAL SECURITY ON

BENEFICIARIES Educational Outcomes

• Social security grants provide households with more

resources to finance education.

• Approximately 32,4% of children lived in households without

any employed members, and social grants and remittances

were vital to improve the access to food and education.

(Statistics South Africa, 2013).

• Samson et al (2004) demonstrates that children in

households that receive social grants are more likely to

attend school, even when controlling for the effect of income.

• The positive effects of social security on education are

greater for girls than for boys, helping to remedy gender

disparities.

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IMPACT OF SOCIAL SECURITY ON

BENEFICIARIES Early Childhood Development (Specifically the Child

Support Grant - CSG)

• Children who were enrolled for the CSG at birth completed

significantly more grades of schooling than children who were

enrolled at age six, and achieved higher scores on a maths test.

• Impacts for girls were particularly significant, with early receipt of

the CSG increasing girls’ grade attainment by a quarter of a grade,

compared to those receiving the grant only at age six.

• The impact largely resulted from early receipt of the CSG, reducing

delays in girls entering school by 27 per cent, with girls enrolling

early obtaining higher scores on maths and reading tests.

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IMPACT OF SOCIAL SECURITY ON

BENEFICIARIES Health Outcomes (Specifically the CSG)

• Early enrolment reduced the likelihood of illness; the effect

being stronger for particularly boys. Boys enrolled at birth

had a 21 per cent likelihood of being ill, compared to a 30 per

cent likelihood for boys enrolled later.

• Reduction of adolescent risky behaviours – sexual activity,

pregnancy, alcohol use, drug use, criminal activity and gang

membership. Significant associations observed for:

– Reduced sexual activity, fewer number of sexual partners and

reduced pregnancy particularly when the adolescent also

received the grant in early childhood;

– Reduced alcohol and drug use, particularly for females, and

with the effect strengthened by early childhood receipt of the

CSG. 20

SOME CHALLENGES

• Redressing the urban and rural (especially outlying,

remote areas) imbalance in accessing social security

• Administrative backlogs

• Lack of required documentation by potential

beneficiaries (e.g. South African Identity document, birth

certificate) prevents them from accessing grants.

• Increasing transparency and accountability – both

Government and beneficiary

• Reducing fraud faced by beneficiaries (especially older

persons) (e.g. Loan sharks, money scams etc.)

CONCLUDING REMARKS

• South Africa’s social assistance programme has been

expanding at an unprecedented rate, from covering just

2,7 million people in 1994 to nearly 16 million people

today. In 2013, its total expenditure makes up

approximately 3,3% of GDP.

• The social assistance programme has been

acknowledged as one of Government’s most effective

poverty alleviation programme.

• The provision of social grants, free basic services and

the mainstreaming of gender in Government

programmes have contributed to improving especially

women's quality of life and that of their household

members.

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CONCLUDING REMARKS

Poverty reducing impacts

• Child Support Grant is effective in addressing the multiple dimensions of poverty and income inequality.

• Spending patterns in households that receive the grant is more focused on basics necessities like food, energy.

• Promote job searching and labour market participation

Developmental Impacts

• Positive educational outcomes.

• Investment in human capital because of improved school attendance.

• Improved health and nutritional status for beneficiaries

• Reduced adolescent risky behaviours through early receipt of CSG

• Increased gender equity – educational and nutritional outcomes

CONCLUDING REMARKS

• Improve the implementation of legislation and policies

with continued efforts to empower women by providing

them with choices through expanded access to

education, health services, including SRH services, skills

development, employment and involvement in decision

making at all levels.

THANK YOU