South Africa
Results are from an analysis of the 2018 General Household Survey (GHS). Information on methodology is in the report and in the method briefs.
Prevalence of Functional Difficulties
In South Africa, the share of adults aged 15 and older with any functional difficulty stands at 9.5%. Separating by level of difficulty, the prevalence rates of some difficulty and at least a lot of difficulty are 7.2% and 2.3% respectively. The prevalence of functional difficulties is higher for women (10.9%) than for men (8%). Functional difficulties are more prevalent among older age groups, at 3.6% for ages 15 to 29, 5.4% for ages 30 to 44, 16.5% for ages 45 to 64, and 37.2% for ages 65 and over. Across the six functional domains considered, difficulties with seeing (6.7%) and mobility (2.3%) are most common.
At the household level, the prevalence of any functional difficulty is at 18.3%, including 13.1% with some difficulty and 5.1% with at least a lot of difficulty.
Table 1: South Africa: Prevalence of functional difficulties (%)
| Group | Any difficulty | Some difficulty | At least a lot of difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| All adults | 9.53 | 7.22 | 2.31 |
| Females | 10.92 | 8.35 | 2.57 |
| Males | 8.04 | 6.01 | 2.03 |
| Rural residents | 8.90 | 6.17 | 2.73 |
| Urban residents | 9.84 | 7.73 | 2.11 |
| Ages 15 to 29 | 3.63 | 2.88 | 0.75 |
| Ages 30 to 44 | 5.39 | 4.22 | 1.17 |
| Ages 45 to 64 | 16.52 | 13.15 | 3.36 |
| Ages 65 and over | 37.18 | 25.00 | 12.18 |
| Seeing | 6.72 | 5.79 | 0.93 |
| Hearing | 1.60 | 1.25 | 0.35 |
| Mobility | 2.32 | 1.43 | 0.88 |
| Cognitive | 1.71 | 1.21 | 0.51 |
| Self-care | 0.77 | 0.46 | 0.31 |
| Communication | 0.46 | 0.27 | 0.19 |
| All households | 18.26 | 13.07 | 5.12 |
| Rural households | 18.91 | 12.36 | 6.52 |
| Urban households | 17.98 | 13.39 | 4.50 |
Source: South Africa 2018 GHS, own calculations
Key indicators on the deprivations and wellbeing experienced by persons with and without functional difficulties are presented in Table 2. Table 2 begins with information on the multidimensional poverty headcount—the rate of persons deprived in more than one dimension in the areas of education, work, health, and standard of living. Persons with at least a lot of functional difficulty have a multidimensional poverty headcount of 73% compared to 52% for persons with some functional difficulty and 50% for persons with no difficulty.
Table 2: South Africa: Key indicators for adults age 15+ by functional difficulty status (% and percentage points)
| Indicator | No Difficulty | Some Difficulty | Difference between no difficulty and some difficulty | At least a lot of difficulty | Difference between no difficulty and at least a lot of difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multidimensional poverty headcount | 50 | 52 | -2*** | 73 | -23*** |
| Less than primary school | 11 | 26 | -15*** | 44 | -32*** |
| Employment population ratio | 45 | 40 | 5*** | 18 | 27*** |
| Safely managed drinking water | 91 | 92 | -1** | 91 | 0 |
| Safely managed sanitation | 84 | 88 | -4*** | 85 | -2* |
| Clean fuel | 85 | 87 | -2*** | 83 | 2** |
| Electricity | 95 | 96 | -1*** | 95 | 0 |
| Adequate housing | 26 | 33 | -7*** | 23 | 3** |
| Owns assets | 57 | 61 | -4*** | 53 | 6*** |
Source: South Africa 2018 GHS, own calculations
Education
The share of adults who have less than primary school as their highest level of schooling attained is significantly higher among persons with at least a lot of functional difficulty (44%) and persons with some difficulty (26%) compared to persons with no difficulty (11%). This boils down to gaps of 15 percentage points (p.p.) between persons with some functional difficulty and persons with no difficulty and 32 p.p. between persons with at least a lot of functional difficulty and persons with no difficulty.
Work
Persons with at least a lot of functional difficulty have a lower employment population ratio (or share of the population working) than persons with no difficulty, at 18% and 45%, respectively. At 40%, persons with some difficulty also have a lower employment population ratio than persons with no difficulty.
Health
Rates of access to safely managed drinking water are overall similar for the different functional difficulty groups. There are small but significant differences in terms of the rates of access to safely managed sanitation, with higher rates for persons with some difficulty (4 p.p.) and for persons with at least a lot of difficulty (2 p.p.) compared to persons with no difficulty.
Standard of Living
There is a small but statistically significant difference of 1 p.p. in the rates of access to electricity between persons with some functional difficulty and persons with no difficulty, at 96% and 95%, respectively. Regarding the rates of access to clean fuel, adequate housing and asset ownership, there are small but significant differences, with persons with some difficulty being better off but persons with at least a lot of difficulty being worse off than persons with no difficulty.
More results for South Africa are available in results tables on the ddi website.