Older whites more dependent than ever before

Older white South Africans have become much more dependent on their younger counterparts.

This is according to a report just released by the Institute for Race Relations.

According to an Institute analyst‚ Gerbrandt van Heerden‚ "Looking at the extent to which old people depend on the young‚ for the African population such dependency levels have declined‚ while for Whites they have increased sharply".

The research found that the African population was the only one in the country in which old depending on young had decreased.

For example‚ in 2003‚ for every 100 employed African people‚ there were 21 people over 65 depending on them for support.

In 2004 the figure dipped dramatically to 15‚ and since then it has moved up or down by just a few points. In 2016 it was 16.

For the coloured population‚ it went up. In 2003‚ for every 100 employed people‚ 12 over 65 relied on them for support. This year‚ it was at 15.

For the Indian/Asian population‚ it went up from 14 in 2003 to 21 in 2016.

But‚ by far the biggest increase was among whites. In 2003‚ for every 100 employed White people‚ there were 24 depending on them. That is just under a quarter. The figure has steadily increased‚ and by this year‚ it had gone up to an unprecedented 38.

Other notable facts from the report include:

There has been an astronomical growth in people employed in government. The IRR found that since 2005‚ the number of people working in the primary and secondary economies (for example mining and manufacturing) had increased by only 4%. Those working for government‚ on the other hand‚ had risen by a staggering 41%.

The African population is the only race group with a proportion of the not economically active exceeding that of the employed (the proportion of not economically active to employed is nearly 154%).

Both the white and African populations saw a dramatic decrease in people not working in comparison to those who are employed. Both those groups saw a change of around -40%. For the coloured population‚ however‚ the ratio of those not working to those employed went up by 11%‚ and for the Indian/Asian population‚ it went up by a dramatic 21.4%.

According to Van Heerden‚ “There are three times as many people with jobs – and almost twice as many unemployed people – as there are assessed individual taxpayers.” - TMG Digital/The Times