What can we learn about South African households by comparing the national Census 2011 with the Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance System data in rural northeast Mpumalanga?

  • Mercy Shoko Statistics South Africa
  • Mark A. Collinson University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
  • Lesego Lefakane University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
  • Kathleen Kahn Umeå University
  • Stephen M. Tollman University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
Keywords: South Africa, Agincourt, household, census, migration

Abstract

Households are central to demographic processes; fertility, mortality and migration. In South Africa, households are important socio-economic units that are at the core of service-delivery planning. While the concept of a household in the country is not in dispute across surveys – it is a socio-economic unit based on shared resources and co-residency - household definitions vary by enumeration methodology. Researchers have, however, not taken full advantage of the availability of the multiple data sources for measuring demographic phenomena. Among the sources of household data in the country are health and demographic surveillance systems and the national census, which are used together in this study to examine the population and household dynamics in a rural sub-district of South Africa. Key findings are that there are obvious differences in the population and household estimates between the two data sources, largely explained by the variations in household definition and data collection procedures. 

Author Biographies

Mercy Shoko, Statistics South Africa
15
Mark A. Collinson, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences
Lesego Lefakane, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences
Kathleen Kahn, Umeå University
Umeå Centre for Global Health Research
Stephen M. Tollman, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences
Published
2016-09-10