Welfare & population Sex & gender What share of South Africa’s population is female? Source Mid-year Population Estimates 2020 (Statistics South Africa) Short answer What share of South Africa’s population is female? More than half of the population – 51.1% or 30.5 million people – was estimated to be female in 2020. Back Full answer
#YouAsked Welfare & population Is South Africa the most unequal country in the world? Source World Bank Short answer Is South Africa the most unequal country in the world? In 2018, the World Bank estimated that South Africa’s Gini coefficient was 0.63 in 2015. This was based on individual consumption – one of the ways to measure income inequality. It put South Africa at the top of a list of 164 countries. However, some countries do not have the data… Back Full answer
#YouAsked Welfare & population Are people working in the informal sector, such as street hawkers, considered to be unemployed in South Africa’s official unemployment rate? Source Statistics South Africa response to an Africa Check enquiry Short answer Are people working in the informal sector, such as street hawkers, considered to be unemployed in South Africa’s official unemployment rate? No, they are considered employed, as long as they did that activity (e.g. trade) for at least one hour in the week before the Quarterly Labour Force Survey interview. Back Full answer
#YouAsked Welfare & population What is the difference between the official unemployment rate and the expanded rate? Source Quarterly Labour Force Survey (Statistics South Africa) Short answer What is the difference between the official unemployment rate and the expanded rate? South Africa’s official unemployment rate was 29% in the second quarter (April to June) of 2019. It means that 29% of the labour force, aged 15 to 64, was without work, available for work and looking for work or trying to start a business. This is also known as the narrow definition of… Back Full answer
#YouAsked Welfare & population Why are 15-year-olds included in South Africa’s working-age population? Source Statistics South Africa response to an Africa Check enquiry Short answer Why are 15-year-olds included in South Africa’s working-age population? Fifteen-year-olds are included in the working-age population because you can leave school at the end of the year in which you turn 15. If a 15-year-old is without work in the week before the Quarterly Labour Force Survey interview, looked for work in the four weeks before the interview and was… Back Full answer
FEATURED #YouAsked Welfare & population What is the size of Ghana’s population? Source Ghana Statistical Service Short answer What is the size of Ghana’s population? Ghana’s projected population for 2020 stood at 30.96 million. Back Full answer
#YouAsked Welfare & population How many indigenous languages are spoken in Kenya? Source Language in Education Policy in Kenya: Intention, Interpretation, Implementation 2018 Short answer How many indigenous languages are spoken in Kenya? The number of indigenous languages spoken in Kenya remains speculative with most sources saying that there are over 40 different indigenous languages and dialects. Back Full answer
#YouAsked Welfare & population Does the child support grant encourage teenage pregnancy? Source Human Sciences Research Council report Short answer Does the child support grant encourage teenage pregnancy? A 2006 analysis of teenage fertility trends found that there were “no grounds to believe that young South African girls are deliberately having children in order to access welfare benefits”.According to the research, teenage childbearing had not increased after the grant was introduced in 1998. In… Back Full answer
Welfare & population How many people in South Africa are younger than 15? Source Mid-year Population Estimates 2020 (Statistics South Africa) Short answer How many people in South Africa are younger than 15? About 28.6% of the population (17.1 million people) was aged 14 or younger in 2020.See figures for other age groups here. Back Full answer
