Marital Dissolution in South Africa in a Rural-Urban Perspective: 2011

Leonard Ahuejere, Statistics South Africa

Marital dissolution is high in South Africa as such a concern. The study used the Census 2011 data collected in South Africa to explore the levels and determinants of marital dissolution among women in South Africa. The chi-square test and binary logistic regression techniques were used. Controls were made for rural-urban areas. Findings indicates that marital dissolution is highest among women aged 15-19 years (11.3%), lowest among those aged 25-29 years (3.7%) and maintained an increasing pattern over older age groups. Dissolution was highest in the urban areas (79.4%) and amongst the black Africans (57.0%). The lowest was observed among the Indian/Asian population group (3.8%). At the multivariate level, age, employment status, income, etc were found to be statistically significant (P>|z|=0.000), and consistent at the rural-urban areas of the country. The study recommend that findings in the study be considered in policy developments around family formations incidences in South Africa.