Late registration of births decreases
In 1998, 78% of birth registrations were late (births not registered in the same year, e.g. a child born in 2010 is only registered in 2012). By 2012, late birth registrations had decreased to 21%. The Department of Home Affairs has made concerted efforts to ensure that registration of births is made as easy as read more »
Only 36% of young children (Aged 0 – 4 years) live with both biological parents
A new report on the living circumstances of young children shows that, while 93% of young children have both biological parents still living, only 36% of them live with both biological parents. Most young children (43%) live with only their biological mother, 2% live with their biological father only, and 19% do not live with read more »
Automotive strikes hamper growth
Before the slump in 2008/09 due to the global recession, manufacturing performed well, recording annual growth rates of 2,9%, 4,6% and 4,2% for 2005, 2006 and 2007 respectively. The recovery after the recession from 2010 to 2012 was sluggish, and 2013 showed anaemic annual growth of 1,3% to date. Factory output remains far from the read more »
Employment levels back to pre-recession peak but absorption rate lower
Employment levels at 14 million in Q3: 2013 are now back to the Q4: 2008 peak. The working age population however, has increased by 2,3 million over the period Q4: 2008 to Q3: 2013 such that the percentage of South Africans aged 15-64 years with jobs (the absorption rate) has declined from 45,0% in Q4: read more »
Inflation back in target band…but food inflation pressures
The annual inflation rate dipped to 6% in September, from the 6,4% registered in August. Much of the monthly increase of 0,5% came from strong increases in basic necessities such as maize meal, rice, bread and meat. Food prices increased by 0,8% from August to September – the highest monthly increase since January this year. read more »
Gauteng municipalities lead the way in income generation from households
Municipalities in Gauteng province are better off in terms of generating their own revenue in the form of services provided to households, while at the same time they are also getting a bigger share of the grants and subsidies received from both national and provincial governments in proportion to the increase in total population. The read more »
Filling your tank costs you more
Over the past 12 months, the petrol price has increased by R2,49. This translates to an extra R124,50 to fill a 50 litre tank. The annual inflation rate for petrol is 23%, the highest since December 2011, when it was 26,3%. This is just one of the factors which led to the annual CPI inflation read more »
Provision of basic services at local government level increases
The provision of basic services such as water went up by 6,4% between 2011 and 2012 nationally. The highest provincial increases were recorded in Western Cape (19,6%) and Gauteng (7,2%). The extent of service delivery at local government level is normally obtained from households through population censuses and general household surveys. However, the suppliers (the read more »
Inflation up to 6,3%
The annual inflation rate jumped to 6,3% in July from the 5,5% recorded in June. This is the first time since April 2012 that the CPI has strayed outside of the inflation target band. The increase in the annual rate was almost totally due to the 84c/l increase in the petrol price which resulted in read more »
Education is key to better labour market outcomes
Employment increased by 100 000 between the 1st and 2nd quarters of 2013. Despite this, the increase in unemployment by 122 000 resulted in an increase of 0,4 of a percentage point in the unemployment rate – from 25,2% to 25,6% between the two quarters. Year-on-year, employment rose by 274 000 while unemployment rose by 254 000. Education plays read more »