Today, the day after Womens Day, I focus on a sub-group that tends to fly under the radar and that needs all the support it can get from society and the state: single mothers.
Most single moms have to juggle the roles of being both breadwinner and caregiver to their children, which is a huge burden for anyone to bear and puts them under enormous financial stress.
There are more female-headed households than you probably realise. According to Statistics SAs General Household Survey 2022 and its Marginalised Groups Indicator Report 2022:
- 42.2% of South African households are headed by women.
- A similarly large proportion of South Africas children (44.1%) live with their mothers only. A third (32.7%) live with both parents; 19.5% live with neither of their parents; and 3.7% live with their fathers.
More worrying statistics come from the annual Old Mutual Savings and Investment Monitor, which tracks the fortunes of this sub-group. This year, surveying 1 508 urban working South Africans, the study found that:
- 40% of women identified as single mothers.
- Almost half (46%) of the single mothers said they received no financial support from their childrens fathers; 26% said they received support irregularly; and 29% said they received support regularly.
- 49% of single mothers reported feeling high or overwhelming financial stress compared with 39% of women overall, and 34% of men. In other words, one out of two single moms are under severe strain trying to cope financially.
If almost half of single mothers are not receiving paternal support and another quarter receiving it only now and then, it means three-quarters of the fathers of the children in these single-mother households are not complying with their parental obligations under the Childrens Act or the Maintenance Act. That is shocking.
