'SA women carry too heavy a load'

Dysfunctional families, including a shockingly high number of children growing up without either of their parents, is the South Africa we live in.

Add to this a skewed tertiary education system and sex-based salary discrimination.

A gender index released yesterday by Statistics SA's statistician-general, Pali Lehohla, reveals the extent of the challenge facing the government in implementing its National Development Plan. The plan is intended to jump-start job creation, stimulate the economy and fashion a sustainable future for South Africa.

The index is based on data collected in 2011 that has been analysed by Stats SA.

The index shows that South African men of all races get paid more than women for the same work, even when less academically qualified.

The employment rate is highest among white men and lowest among black women.

The figures indicated that 72.6% of white men, 56.1% of white women, 42.8% black men, and 30.8% of black women were employed.

"Even though women are more educated, proportionally not as many of them are occupying positions that correspond to their tertiary education," Lehohla said.

And women who have the same qualifications as men on average earned only 82% of the pay of their male counterparts for the same work.

Many women also carry the burden of being a single parent - 38% of black women between the ages of 25 and 34 with children have never been married.

South Africa's population is relatively young, with 15% below the age of 14, and 31% between the ages of 15 and 24.

Lehohla said the country's fertility rate dropped from 2.71children per female in 2002 to 2.37 in 2011.

Of South Africa's 15million households, Lehohla said a third were "traditional", with both parents present.

He said 43% of these households included extended families.

When it came to marriage, only 3.8% of female teenagers were married compared with close to 60% of women in their 30s.

Lehohla said that among married black Africans, 25% of women, and 20% of men did not share a home with their partner.

KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape had the highest percentage (25%) of women-headed households.

He said many children lived in households with only their mother.

The proportion of children living in a household without either parent was highest among black African children at 27.2%; the figure was 11.2% for coloured children.

South Africa had more women than men aged 65 or over, with 1.5 women for each man. Women have an average life expectancy of 61.4 years, men of 57.7 years.

Tuberculosis was the major cause of death, followed by influenza and pneumonia. Other major causes of death were intestinal disease, heart disease, HIV, diabetes and respiratory illnesses. - Additional reporting by Sapa