Only One-in-Three South African Children Live With Both Parents – UCT Study

A new study by researchers at the University of Cape Town (UCT) has found that only one in three South African children live in the same household as both their biological parents — one of the lowest rates recorded globally.

The research shows that in 2022, just 33% of children lived with both parents, while 44% (about 9.2 million) lived only with their mothers. Only 4% lived with their fathers but not their mothers, and 20% had neither parent living with them.

However, the study stresses that parental absence does not necessarily mean abandonment: most children without co-resident parents still have at least one parent alive and often receive emotional or financial support from them.

Researchers say these patterns reflect a long and complex history of disrupted family life shaped by apartheid-era migration controls, labour migration, economic inequality, and housing shortages.

Many children are raised by relatives such as grandparents, aunts, or uncles, and it is common for siblings to live in different households.

The UCT team notes that while 89% of children live in homes with at least two adults, the biological parent may not always be among them. The report warns that the limited presence of biological fathers remains a striking feature of South African family life.

There are sharp differences across provinces and income levels. In the Western Cape and Gauteng, about half of all children live with both parents (50% and 47% respectively), compared with just a third in the Eastern Cape, where 33% of children live with neither parent. Among the poorest 20% of households, only 17% of children live with both parents, while the figure rises to 73% among the wealthiest.

Racial disparities are also pronounced. Fewer than 30% of black African children live with both parents, compared with over 80% of white and Indian children. The share of children living with both parents has fallen from 39% in 2002 to 33% in 2022, remaining largely unchanged for the past decade.

The report concludes that these figures highlight South Africa’s unique pattern of childhood separation, where extended families play a central role in child-rearing amid the persistent absence of fathers from the household.