Daniela Casale

What has the Feminisation of the Labour Market ‘Bought’ Women in South Africa? Trends in Labour Force Participation, Employment and Earnings, 1995-2001

There has been a dramatic increase in the labour force participation of women in South Africa since the mid-1990s. Male participation has also been increasing but at a substantially slower rate, such that a feminisation of the labour force has occurred, mirroring a more general global trend that has been occurring since World War Two. Unlike the experience in many other countries, however, the rise in the labour force participation of women in South Africa has translated mainly into an increase in unemployment. Nonetheless, there has also been some increase in employment among women over the same period. This paper analyses what this rise in employment has ‘bought’ women in South Africa in terms of access to different types of employment and earnings for the period 1995 to 2001. The analysis suggests that the nature of the feminisation of the labour market in South Africa has been such that women’s disadvantaged position in the labour market relative to men’s has not been fundamentally challenged. Women continue to be over-represented in low-income, less secure employment. Where there has been some opportunity for advancement over the period, white women seem to have been the main beneficiaries.

Is marriage a dying institution in South Africa? Exploring changes in marriage in the context of ilobolo payments

abstract This article describes racial differences in marriage rates in post-apartheid South Africa and considers one possible reason for these differences related to the traditional practice of ilobolo among African families. We use nationally representative micro data to document very low and declining marriage rates among young Africans, large differences in marriage rates between Africans and whites, as well as rising rates of cohabitation, particularly among young African women and men. We then review the payment of bride wealth in this context, drawing on the historical literature as well as on popular media resources and quantitative data collected in the South African Social Attitudes Survey of 2005, to explore attitudes towards ilobolo as practised in contemporary African society.

The Male Marital Earnings Premium in the Context of Bride Wealth Payments: Evidence from South Africa

This study explores the nature of the male marital earnings premium in the context of a developing country in which the payment of bride wealth is practiced. We use data from the South African Labor Force Survey of September 2004 and the Labor Force Survey Panel (2001–4), the first national panel available in South Africa. We show that a robust and positive premium to marriage in cross‐sectional estimations is substantially reduced after controlling for individual fixed effects. Furthermore, we find evidence of an additional source of endogeneity created by the positive selection of men into marriage with faster earnings growth in the initial periods of the panel. Our results are to be expected if the payment of bride wealth or ilobolo, by a prospective husband to the bride’s family, is a significant constraint to marriage among black men in South Africa.

The relationship between sex ratios and marriage rates in South Africa

We investigate the relationship between alternative definitions of sex ratios and marriage outcomes among African and white women in South Africa. In contrast to marriages among whites, African marriages in South Africa traditionally have involved the payment of bridewealth (or ilobolo) by a husband to the prospective wifes family. Using matched data from the 2001 Population Census and the South African Labour Force Surveys, we find that among Africans, both the quantity and quality of unmarried men relative to women in local marriage markets are significant predictors of marriage. However, economic-based measures of marriageability have a larger effect on marriage outcomes than simple sex ratios. These findings are consistent with the argument that bridewealth payments act as a financial constraint to marriage among African couples, raising the marriageability criteria of men. In contrast, we find mostly insignificant results for the relationship between sex ratios and marriage outcomes among white women.

Recovery from stunting and cognitive outcomes in young children: evidence from the South African Birth to Twenty Cohort Study.

In this study we analyse the implications for cognitive function of recovery from stunting in early childhood. More specifically, we test whether children who met the definition for stunted at age 2, but not at age 5, perform better in cognitive tests than children who remain stunted over this period. The sample is drawn from the Birth to Twenty Cohort Study, a prospective data set of children born in 1990 in urban South Africa. The measure of cognitive function that we use is based on the Revised Denver Prescreening Developmental Questionnaire implemented when the children were age 5. We employ multivariate regression in the analysis to control for child-specific characteristics, socio-economic status, the home environment and caregiver inputs. We find that recovery from stunting is not uncommon among young children in our sample. However, children who recover from stunting by age 5 still perform significantly worse on cognitive tests than children who do not experience early malnutrition, and almost as poorly as children who remain stunted. These findings suggest that the timing of nutritional inputs in the early years is key in a childs cognitive development, with implications for school readiness and achievement.

Who Gives to International Causes? A Sociodemographic Analysis of U.S. Donors

In the United States, a small proportion of private donors gives to international charity. We explore the profile of these donors with a view to understanding who supports international causes relative to domestic causes only and, more generally, what shapes public concern for those in need in other countries. Using data from the 2001 survey on “Giving and Volunteering in the United States,” we employ a series of probit regressions to compare the sociodemographic correlates of giving to international causes with 11 other domestic causes such as health, education, and the arts. We find that while income is not associated with the likelihood of international giving, postgraduate education, being foreign-born, and religiosity are large and significant predictors. We also explore the impact of various measures of social capital and civic engagement, and find that institutional trust and youth volunteering are strongly associated with international giving relative to the other causes.

Young populations in young democracies: generational voting behaviour in sub-Saharan Africa

Why do young Africans participate less in elections than their older counterparts? Given Africas growing youth bulge, this constituency represents a numerically important voting bloc, and their lower participation in elections could undermine the legitimacy of the regions democratic trajectory. We address this question through a multi-level model that relies on individual-level data from the Afrobarometer surveys and country-level data for 19 of the regions more democratic countries. We classify Africas youth as belonging to two categories, those aged 18–24 and those aged 25–35. We find that key determinants of the youths voting behaviour include their access to political knowledge and information as well as their perceptions of the electoral context and party system. In the latter regard, the efficacy and fairness of elections and the degree of partisanship increase the youths decision to vote, while the length of party incumbency is a deterrent to turnout. These findings hold important implications by highlighting that Africas youth not only need to be exposed to greater fora for learning about the political process and party options but also that political parties in the region need to become more relevant to this constituency.

Re-estimating gender differences in income in South Africa: The implications of equivalence scales

ABSTRACT Most studies of poverty and inequality in South Africa measure individual welfare by deflating total household resources, such as income, by household size. This per-capita method makes no adjustments for the different consumption needs of children or for household economies of scale. However, in addition to being more likely to live in households where average per-capita household income is lower compared with men, we show that women in South Africa also live in significantly larger households which include more children. These gendered differences in household composition are driven to a large degree by low rates of co-residency between men and women. We therefore investigate how adjusting household resources for the presence of children and economies of scale affects measures of the gender gap in income.

Indirect Taxation and Gender Equity: Evidence from South Africa

Abstract This study adds to the growing literature on the distributional effects of indirect or consumption taxes in developing countries by exploring whether these taxes have differential gender outcomes. Using data from Statistics South Africas 2000 Income and Expenditure Survey, the study investigates differences in tax incidence between “female-type” and “male-type” households, classified according to their demographic and economic attributes. The results suggest that zero-rating a well-targeted selection of basic foodstuffs and fuel for household use is important in protecting female-type households, especially those in the lowest quintiles and with children, from bearing an otherwise disproportionate share of the tax burden. In contrast, high taxes on alcohol, tobacco, and fuel for private transport result in a larger incidence on male-type households. The study also suggests ways in which the indirect tax structure could be refined to further reduce the large gender (and income) inequities that exist in South Africa.

Informal sector taxes and equity: Evidence from presumptive taxation in Zimbabwe

Using a mixed-methods approach, this paper evaluates the equity implications of Zimbabwes presumptive tax system, introduced in 2005 to raise revenue from the countrys growing informal sector. The representative taxpayer method, which compares the hypothetical tax burdens of formal and informal sector taxpayers at varying income levels, shows that the presumptive tax regime undermines both vertical and horizontal equity. In addition, interviews with key informants from the tax authorities, other relevant organisations, and informal sector operators, were conducted to probe issues around collection, compliance and perceptions of fairness. The qualitative data suggest that weak enforcement, with more visible informal activities bearing the brunt of the tax burden, and selective (and sometimes politically motivated) application of the legislation, compromise equity further. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.