{"id":35477,"date":"2026-05-26T18:05:58","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T16:05:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=lifestyle-ent&#038;p=35477"},"modified":"2026-05-26T18:05:58","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T16:05:58","slug":"women-now-head-over-42-of-households-stats-sa","status":"publish","type":"lifestyle-ent","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/lifestyle-ent\/women-now-head-over-42-of-households-stats-sa\/","title":{"rendered":"Women now head over 42% of households: Stats SA \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Women now head more than 42% of all households in South Africa (SA), according to the latest General Household Survey released by Statistics SA (Stats SA), underscoring the expanding role of women in anchoring families nationwide.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The demographic shift heavily impacts the country&#8217;s youth, with the survey revealing that 46% of children currently live solely with their mothers, compared to just 31% who live in two-parent households.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>According to Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke, the proportion of youth-headed households nationwide has steadily declined over the past two decades, dropping from 28% in 2008 to 23% in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>However, stark provincial disparities persist across the country. According to Stats SA representative Naledi Mabitsela-Ngcobo, Gauteng currently carries the highest share of youth-headed households in the country, with young people running roughly one in four homes in the economic hub. She noted that when combining households led by those aged 15 to 24 with those aged 25 to 34, the total figure climbs well above 25%.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>By contrast, the Eastern Cape province recorded the lowest proportion of youth-headed households in SA, with its share remaining below 19%.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The data provides fresh insight into rapidly evolving family structures as severe economic pressures, shifting migration patterns, and broader demographic changes continue to reshape household dynamics across SA.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":35478,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"featured-post":[326,234],"class_list":["post-35477","lifestyle-ent","type-lifestyle-ent","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","featured-post-household","featured-post-south-africa","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/lifestyle-ent\/35477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/lifestyle-ent"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/lifestyle-ent"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"featured-post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured-post?post=35477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}