Mail & Guardian reporter
Statistics South Africa has produced a report looking at gender differences in South Africa. The 1998 report, entitled Women and Men, is largely based on information from the October 1995 household survey. Here are some of the findings:
l Gauteng is the only province with more males than females – 49% of the population are female. In the Northern Province 55% of the population are women and girls.
l In October 1995 29% of all women who had given birth had never been married.
l Of the 57% of women who had given birth and were married, 40% had gone through a civil ceremony and 17% were married by traditional or religious ceremonies.
l About 20% of young women who did not complete matric but said they wished to study cited pregnancy as their reason for dropping out.
l More than four in 10 children under the age of seven live only with their mother, while one in eight lives with neither parent.
l In December 1996 49% of the 1,2-million public servants were women, but just more than one in 10 management and senior management positions were held by women.
l Black women earned an average of 89% of the salaries of black men, while white women’s earnings were only 60% of those of white men.
l The average black female employee earned 43% of the salary of the average white woman.
The full report can be found on the Statistics South Africa website,