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Efforts are underway to globalize sociology in the United States through study abroad experiences. At the same time, there is a push to extend the reach of such programs to students of color. We use student journal entries and fieldnotes from trips to South Africa to analyze how students of color grapple with a disruption of identity in a Black majority setting. Findings reveal that students were challenged by new axes of identity, namely, language and place, and were confronted with their own relative privilege. Sociology can play a critical role in helping students maximize benefit from such experiences if undergraduate curricula incorporate additional axes of intersectionality and include more scholarship from Africa and the Diaspora. Moreover, study abroad programs need to devote significant time to structured debriefings in all pedagogical activities. This would provide faculty and students a space to productively manage and even embrace the disruption of identity.

Migration research tends to treat childrearing as a secondary role for migrants. By prioritising the economic objectives of migration, most models present migrants as either delaying childbearing or, if they have young children, not living with them. However, migration has become increasingly feminised, the types of mobility more varied, while the returns to migration remain uncertain at best. At the same time, norms around childrearing are shifting, and the capacity of kin to take care of children may be weakening. In such contexts, migrants may not want to or be able to be separated from their children. Confronting such difficult decisions and their consequences may be reflected in poor sleep health for the migrant parent. We draw on data from the Migration and Health Follow‐Up Study (MHFUS) in South Africa to examine the following questions: (i) To what extent is children's coresidence associated with sleep health for migrant parents? (ii) Do effects vary by sex of migrant? and (iii) Do effects vary by location of migrant? Results from propensity score matching confirm that migrants who coreside with all their young children are more likely to experience healthy sleep compared to those who have nonresident or no young children. However, stratified analysis shows that these effects are only significant for women and those not living in Gauteng province. The value of these findings is underscored by the need for research on the well‐being of migrant parents who are negotiating multiple agendas in economically precarious and physically insecure destinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the authors examine how low-income Black men in South Africa and the United States work with their kin to secure fathering and ensure the well-being of children. They use ethnographic and life history data on men who fathered children from 1992 to 2005 to demonstrate how fathers' roles as kin workers enable them to meet culturally defined criteria for responsible fatherhood in two contexts marked by legacies of racism, increasing rates of incarceration and HIV/AIDS, and a web of interlocking inequalities that effectively precludes them from accessing employment with good wages. Using a comparative framework based on kin work, the authors identify three common processes in both contexts--negotiation between maternal and paternal kin, pedifocal approach, and flexible fathering--that enable men and their kin networks to secure father involvement in economically marginalized communities. The article concludes with a discussion of the policy implications of the findings.

The importance of the authors' research can be summarized in several ways. First, it contributes to an ongoing discussion about the relative importance of childbearing in determining a girl's life chances, particularly in societies undergoing major transitions. Second, the twin issues of adolescent fertility and educational attainment feature prominently in national-level public health agendas focused on youth. This is particularly apparent in South Africa, where the well-being of youth has been given high priority in various sectors. Ten years into democracy, South Africa offers an ideal context in which to examine transitions to adulthood amid a climate of great optimism, fueled by increased educational and employment opportunities but also tempered by high unemployment rates and continuing poverty. Third, their research suggests new possibilities for intervention work in both family planning and schooling. They begin with an analysis of data from the 10 percent sample of the 1996 South African population census. For all respondents in this random sample, the 1996 census data provide individual-level demographic characteristics such as age, marital status, place of residence, and educational characteristics, including highest level of completed schooling and current enrollment status. The data also contain information on children ever born (by "children ever born," they mean the number of live births a mother has had regardless of whether each child born is still alive), the mother's age at first birth, and the number of live births she had during the previous 12 months. Descriptive characteristics of the eligible girls used in this analysis are presented in a table. Figures are given for the entire sample and for the subsamples of those who have ever had and those who have never had a live birth. The twin issues of adolescent fertility and girls' educational attainment in Africa have generated substantial interest in both the academic literature and policy discussion. There is a consensus that childbearing impedes educational success for girls. Their findings suggest that a balance is important between adequate care-giving capacity and socioeconomic stability. Both are crucial to enrollment and sustained progress of girls in general, particularly in the case of young mothers. Finally, it is important to underscore the enormous value being placed on education in South Africa. This value is evident from their finding that a lower age at first birth is associated with higher odds of being currently enrolled.

The payment of bridewealth or lobola is a longstanding cultural practice that has persisted in South Africa despite significant societal shifts over the past two decades. Lobola has always been a complex and contested practice that both reinforces gender inequalities and, at the same time, provides status to women and legitimacy to marriages. In this paper, we describe rural South African women's perceptions of lobola, their experiences related to marriage and lobola, and how they reconfigure lobola to fit within modern life course aspirations and trajectories. We draw on interviews with 43 women aged 18–55 in rural South Africa to examine desires related to lobola and the meanings of lobola given current social, economic, and health (HIV) conditions in rural areas. Our findings indicate that lobola offers women a complex set of benefits and liabilities. Although women value the support, social status, and respectability lobola offers, they also lament how lobola curtails their freedom to pursue education and limits their autonomy from husbands as well as in-laws. Women also view lobola as offering a sense of security amidst the uncertainty of the local political economy and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. We conclude that the way women incorporate lobola into their desires and plans reflects tension between the expectations and aspirations of "modern" women in a post-apartheid context in which rights feature prominently but economic security is not guaranteed, and cultural scripts reinforce longstanding gender norms but also ensure social support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores how living arrangements influence perceived quality of life in an elderly population in rural South Africa. We use data from the longitudinal World Health Organization Study of Global Ageing and Adult Health Survey (WHO-SAGE) and from the Agincourt Health and Socio-Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS). On average, older men and women who reside in single-generation and complex-linked multigenerational households report worse quality of life than those in two-generation and linear-linked multigenerational households. However, after controlling for prior wellbeing status, we find living arrangements to have a significant impact on women's perceived quality of life only, and that it is moderated by age. We conclude that not all multigenerational arrangements are protective of older adults' wellbeing and highlight the gendered impact of living arrangements on quality of life. These results suggest the necessity to understand how living arrangements influence the social roles of older adults and change with age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective A limited understanding exists of the relationship between disability and older persons’ living arrangements in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). We examine the associations between living arrangements, disability, and gender for individuals older than 50 years in rural South Africa. Method Using the Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) survey and Agincourt Health and socio-Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) data, we explore older persons’ self-reported disability by living arrangements and gender, paying particular attention to various multigenerational arrangements. Results Controlling for past disability status, a significant relationship between living arrangements and current disability remains, but is moderated by gender. Older persons in households where they may be more “productive” report higher levels of disability; there are fewer differences in women’s than men’s reported disability levels across living arrangement categories. Discussion This study underscores the need to examine living arrangements and disability through a gendered lens, with particular attention to heterogeneity among multigenerational living arrangements. Some living arrangements may take a greater toll on older persons than others. Important policy implications for South Africa and other LMICs emerge among vibrant debates about the role of social welfare programs in improving the health of older individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa (SA) is influenced by anthropogenic SO 2 emissions, however, no studies exist detailing the atmospheric or climatic effects resulting from volcanic eruptions at this location. In this work, the Calbuco volcano situated in southern Chile (41.79°S, 73.13°W), was used as a case study to investigate the transport of volcanic SO 2 plumes over SA in 2015. The Calbuco volcano underwent a series of eruptive phases starting from 22 April 2015. In this study, HYSPLIT forward trajectories and cluster analysis were carried out in order to estimate the altitude level of air parcels entering the SA subcontinent. These analyses along with Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) assessments confirmed that trajectories beginning in Calbuco arrived in SA during the last few days of April (∼28 April 2015) and stayed until the 1st week of May 2015 (∼2 May 2015). In order to estimate the rise in SO 2 columnar concentrations at various altitudes and surface SO 2 levels, OMI data and 19 ground-based (GB) monitoring stations (situated throughout SA) were utilized. A comparative analysis employing SO 2 data from pre-2014 and post-2016 volcanic eruption periods were also included in this study. Results showed that a major increase in SO 2 concentration was observed at the Planetary Boundary Layer ( ∼ 2 DU) when compared to its upper layers during April and May 2015. Although some GB stations in North West province namely Damonsville, Mmabatho and Phola showed a moderate increase in SO 2 values during April and May 2015, there was no significant rise in GB measurements at the surface in other locations However, we are not certain due to data gaps in the measurements and non-availability of ground-based measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The South African context challenges the conventional categorisation of older persons as dependent after a certain age. The concurrence of old-age pensions, high unemployment, high HIV prevalence, and frailty related to ageing necessitate a more dynamic approach to understanding older persons’ social positioning. We examine the extent of change in older persons’ social positioning within their households and the correlates of change in a rural community in South Africa. Using data from the Agincourt Health and socio-Demographic Surveillance System and a new typology of older persons’ social positioning based on living arrangements, we (1) describe older persons’ living arrangements in two time periods; (2) calculate transition probabilities of older persons’ changing living arrangements over time; (3) identify possible drivers of change. Results show that while older persons experience stability in living arrangements over time, this stability is more prevalent among those who start in productive roles. Moreover, those who change arrangements are likely to move into productive roles. Taken together, these findings suggest that older South Africans fulfil productive roles in households while simultaneously experiencing ageing-related frailty and diminished labour capacity. These findings underscore the importance of considering ageing as both an individual and a relational process, with implications for older persons and their families. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Black fathers in South Africa face enormous challenges remaining involved in their children’s lives as a result of very high levels of unemployment and union instability. We use data from the Birth to Twenty (Bt20) cohort study to describe trajectories of father contact in the lives of children who have experienced a parental union dissolution and examine the influence of life stage of child at time of union dissolution and mother’s entry into new union on nonresidential contact with fathers. We find that, in the first 5 years after dissolution (1) children who were in the 3 to 5 life stage at time of dissolution face substantially higher odds of having no contact compared with those who were in the 0 to 2 group and (2) children who were in the 6 to 11 group experienced lower odds of intermittent contact. Mother’s entry into a new union increases the odds of having no and intermittent contact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate how gender influences research on fathering and the narratives that are produced in one study in urban South Africa. We draw on "doing" and "undoing" gender frameworks to examine three domains of the research process: 1) research design; 2) the data collection interview; and 3) data analysis and interpretation. Through close examination of methodology and reporting patterns, we argue that each domain represents an interactional context in which actors assess the drawbacks and benefits of "doing " and "undoing " gender. This analysis advances our understanding of the ways in which the research process unwittingly sustains parenting as a primarily feminine activity but also presents opportunities for resisting and altering dominant gendered norms about parenting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well established that Black African children in South Africa live in complex living arrangements. Far less, however, is known about the dynamism in children's living arrangements over the life course or the extent to which kin group characteristics influence the intensity of change in these arrangements. In this article, we draw on data collected on 337 children aged 0-21 embedded in 13 kin groups in Mpumalanga, South Africa to (a) describe the types of living arrangements that children are in at the time of birth and in 2002; (b) examine the extent of change and stability in living arrangements over two points in time; (c) describe the variation in the intensity of change in living arrangements over the life course; and (d) analyze the extent to which kin group characteristics help explain this variation. Our analysis shows that most children are in the same living arrangement at birth and in 2002 but that those born into a nuclear arrangement are most likely to change. Moreover, we also found considerable variation in the number of changes in living arrangements that children experience over the life course. The proportion of dependents in the kin group and the living arrangement at the time of birth explained some of this variation controlling for age and parental attributes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa's population is aging. Most of the older Black South Africans continue to live in extended household structures with children, grand-children, and other kin. They also constitute a source of income through a means-tested noncontributory state-funded pension available at age 60. Using census data from the Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance System in 2000, 2005, and 2010, we develop a typology of living arrangements that is reflective of the social positioning of elderly persons as dependent or productive household members and analyze changes in the distribution over time. Older persons, in general, live in large, complex, and multigenerational households. Multigenerational households with "productive" older persons are increasing in proportion over the period, although there are few differences by gender or pension eligibility at any time point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background In 2011 there were 5.5 million HIV infected people in South Africa and 71% of those requiring antiretroviral therapy (ART) received it. The effective integration of traditional medical practitioners and biomedical providers in HIV prevention and care has been demonstrated. However concerns remain that the use of traditional treatments for HIV-related disease may lead to pharmacokinetic interactions between herbal remedies and ART drugs and delay ART initiation. Here we analyse the changing prevalence and determinants of traditional healthcare use amongst those dying of HIV-related disease, pulmonary tuberculosis and other causes in a rural South African community between 2003 and 2011. ART was made available in this area in the latter part of this period. Methods Data was collected during household visits and verbal autopsy interviews. InterVA-4 was used to assign causes of death. Spatial analyses of the distribution of traditional healthcare use were performed. Logistic regression models were developed to test associations of determinants with traditional healthcare use. Results There were 5929 deaths in the study population of which 47.7% were caused by HIV-related disease or pulmonary tuberculosis (HIV/AIDS and TB). Traditional healthcare use declined for all deaths, with higher levels throughout for those dying of HIV/AIDS and TB than for those dying of other causes. In 2003-2005, sole use of biomedical treatment was reported for 18.2% of HIV/AIDS and TB deaths and 27.2% of other deaths, by 2008-2011 the figures were 49.9% and 45.3% respectively. In bivariate analyses, higher traditional healthcare use was associated with Mozambican origin, lower education levels, death in 2003-2005 compared to the later time periods, longer illness duration and moderate increases in prior household mortality. In the multivariate model only country of origin, time period and illness duration remained associated. Conclusions There were large decreases in reported traditional healthcare use and increases in the sole use of biomedical treatment amongst those dying of HIV/AIDS and TB. No associations between socio-economic position, age or gender and the likelihood of traditional healthcare use were seen. Further qualitative and quantitative studies are needed to assess whether these figures reflect trends in healthcare use amongst the entire population and the reasons for the temporal changes identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We used data from the Birth to Twenty Cohort study to understand children's receipt of financial support from their fathers in a low income, Black community in urban South Africa. Specifically, we (1) described fathers' financial support over the life course of children; (2) estimated survival probabilities of receiving support for all children and not receiving support for children who experienced a parental union dissolution; and (3) identified factors that explained variation in the receipt of support after a union dissolution. Results suggest that most children received full or partial support throughout the life course. Furthermore, a high proportion of children received support after a union dissolution with much of the variation driven by pre-dissolution support, father's education and the presence of extended kin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we examine how Black youth in rural South Africa construct role models and connect them to their own life aspirations. We pay particular attention to individual and group identity development in shaping these perceptions. Based on analysis of qualitative data from 99 Black male and female youth aged 14 to 22, we find that (a) the choice of role models reflects a balancing strategy to reconcile individual and group identity development; (b) while the reasons they give for choosing role models are aligned with dominant models of upward mobility in the new South Africa (and globally), our respondents are also attuned to the difficulty of attaining such success; and (c) the choices underscore the continued importance of close and extended kin amidst an increasingly ego-focused life strategy aimed at individual status attainment. These findings can contribute to improving the effectiveness of intervention programs aimed at strengthening the role of positive influences in the lives of Black youth in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: In this study we analysed the spatial and temporal changes in patterns of mortality over a period when antiretroviral therapy (ART) was rolled out in a rural region of north-eastern South Africa. Previous studies have identified localised concentrated HIV related sub-epidemics and recommended that micro-level analyses be carried out in order to direct focused interventions. Methods Data from an ongoing health and socio-demographic surveillance study was used in the analysis. The follow-up was divided into two periods, 2007-2008 and 2009-2010, representing the times immediately before and after the effects on mortality of the decentralised ART provision from a newly established local health centre would be expected to be evident. The study population at the start of the analysis was approximately 73 000 individuals. Data were aggregated by village and also using a 2 x 2 km grid. We identified villages, grid squares and regions in the site where mortality rates within each time period or rate ratios between the periods differed significantly from the overall trends. We used clustering techniques to identify cause-specific mortality hotspots. Findings: Comparing the two periods, there was a 30% decrease in age and gender standardised adult HIV-related and TB (HIV/TB) mortality with no change in mortality due to other causes. There was considerable spatial heterogeneity in the mortality patterns. Areas separated by 2 to 4 km with very different epidemic trajectories were identified. There was evidence that the impact of ART in reducing HIV/TB mortality was greatest in communities with higher mortality rates in the earlier period. Conclusions: This study shows the value of conducting high resolution spatial analyses in order to understand how local micro-epidemics contribute to changes seen over a wider area. Such analyses can support targeted interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The examination of co-residential household arrangements has been a mainstay in demographic analysis, based on the assumption that those with whom one lives are the most important influences in one's life. In contrast, we know far less about the spaces not shared but none the less crucially important in the lives of children. In this analysis, we bring together detailed ethnographic data on kin connectivity with geographical information system (GIS) data in a rural area of South Africa, in order to: 1) describe the spatial distribution of kin from a child's perspective, with special attention paid to the role of circular migrants who constitute a critical point of spatial dispersion; 2) examine how type of kinship (maternal vs paternal) and 3) socio-economic status intersect with spatial distribution. Our analysis uses a three-category typology of kin spatial arrangement that reflects employment constraints, patterns of union formation and norms of kin obligation. Specifically, we find that 1) the high-density rural node with extensive dispersion is associated with economic and union stability and access to maternal and paternal kin; whereas 2) the rural node with limited dispersion faces greater economic vulnerability and often operates in the absence of formal unions; and 3) the rural node with minimal dispersion offers the least amount of economic security and is almost always dominated by single mothers reliant on maternal kin. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background Household characteristics are important influences on the risk of child death. However, little is known about this influence in HIV-endemic areas. We describe the effects of household characteristics on children’s risk of dying in rural South Africa.Methods We use data describing the mortality of children younger than 5 years living in the Agincourt health and socio-demographic surveillance system study population in rural northeast South Africa during the period 1994–2008. Using discrete time event history analysis we estimate children’s probability of dying by child characteristics and household composition (other children and adults other than parents) (N = 924 818 child-months), and household socio-economic status (N = 501 732 child-months).Results Children under 24 months of age whose subsequent sibling was born within 11 months experience increased odds of dying (OR 2.5; 95% CI 1.1–5.7). Children also experience increased odds of dying in the period 6 months (OR 2.1; 95% CI 1.2–3.6), 3–5 months (OR 3.0; 95% CI 1.5–5.9), and 2 months (OR 11.8; 95% CI 7.6–18.3) before another household child dies. The odds of dying remain high at the time of another child’s death (OR 11.7; 95% CI 6.3–21.7) and for the 2 months following (OR 4.0; 95% CI 1.9–8.6). Having a related but non-parent adult aged 20–59 years in the household reduces the odds (OR 0.6; 95% CI 0.5–0.8). There is an inverse relationship between a child’s odds of dying and household socio-economic status.Conclusions This detailed household profile from a poor rural setting where HIV infection is endemic indicates that children are at high risk of dying when another child is very ill or has recently died. Short birth intervals and additional children in the household are further risk factors. Presence of a related adult is protective, as is higher socio-economic status. Such evidence can inform primary health care practice and facilitate targeting of community health worker efforts, especially when covering defined catchment areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this analysis, we draw on qualitative data to examine the management of non-marital fertility among young women in two rural, Black communities situated in different provinces of South Africa: KwaZulu–Natal and Mpumalanga. While the two communities share a history of economic and social disadvantage and limited access to the labour market, there are, nonetheless, distinctive features that are evident in the management of non-marital fertility. We show that young women in both communities aspire to an ideal ordering of events that places finishing education before getting married and having children, but this is not easily attained. However, there are important differences in the ways young women and their families respond to union formation and childbearing that often occurs outside of a recognised union. In Hlabisa, KwaZulu–Natal, formal processes for legitimising non-marital pregnancies through union recognition are still in place whereas, in Agincourt, Mpumalanga, more emphasis is placed on securing support and paternal recognition for the child rather than on cementing the union between the young woman and her partner. We also find that the older generation in Agincourt at times views education as a threat to marriage while this is not common in Hlabisa. Our findings have important implications for intervention programmes that often treat Black communities as homogeneous wholes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A critical component of child rearing is time use. There has been a wealth of studies on time use in child rearing focusing on biological parents in the US and western contexts but there is a notable absence of any scholarship on time use that has incorporated extended kin in the African context. This paper examines time use with children in rural South Africa using observational data and incorporates a range of kin and non-kin. The analysis focuses on 24 children under the age of 6 and all the people who interact with them over the course of a week. Through an examination of the composition of care networks, the quantity and quality of time investment, and the relationship between care networks and child outcomes, the findings support a kin-based, socially distributed model of child rearing but also challenge assumptions about the extent of kin involvement and impact on child outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calls for research on men's roles in families in sub-Saharan Africa, especially as fathers, and for greater efforts to engage men in family-based interventions and policy requires detailed data on family functioning, parenting and parenthood. However, in resource poor countries within the region few family or birth cohort studies have been conducted and household and population-based studies continue to be the main sources of empirical data about families. In this brief report, we review the data on fathers and father involvement collected in South Africa (e.g., national household surveys, household panel surveys, demographic surveillance systems, birth cohort) and suggest ways to improve ongoing empirical data collection efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the influence of maternal status, socioeconomic status of the household, and household composition on the mobility of children aged 0-14 in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, from 1999 to 2008. Using data from the Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance System, we found that children whose mothers were temporary migrants, living elsewhere, or dead had higher odds of moving than children whose mothers were coresident. Older children and children living in richer households faced lower odds of mobility. For children whose mothers were coresident, there was no effect of maternal substitutes on child mobility. However, among children whose mothers were temporary migrants or living elsewhere, the presence of prime-aged and elderly females lowered the odds of mobility. For maternal orphans, the presence of elderly women in the household lowered their odds of mobility. The results underscore the importance of examining the conditions under which children move in order to strengthen service delivery targeted at safeguarding children's well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines older persons' positions as heads of households in the Agincourt sub-district of Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. Older people's access to non-contributory pensions in a context of AIDS-related chronic illness and premature death might increase their household responsibilities which, in turn, may be manifested in higher rates of household headship. We use descriptive analysis to outline the traits of household heads, compare household characteristics, in particular recent mortality experience, across headship types (male/female, pre/ post-pension eligibility). While some significant differences in household composition exist across headship types, older persons were no more likely to be heading households with a HIV/AIDS-related death over the 2000-2005 period-prior to extensive antiretroviral (ARV) rollout. This provides an important starting point for further investigations aimed at understanding the impact of HIV/AIDS on older persons' lives, and as a baseline for measuring the effects of ARV rollout on older persons' status in AIDS-endemic communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Mainstream research and the popular media often equate female-headship with household vulnerability, crisis, and disorganization. Epidemic levels of HIV/AIDS in some parts of sub-Saharan Africa compound this portrait of hopelessness. In South Africa, the impact of HIV/AIDS on households depends on race, class, and place. As female-headed households increase in number, we need to better understand how female-heads in poor rural areas contend with AIDS related challenges. We analyze qualitative interviews with 16 female heads and the members of their households in a rural community to examine the response to AIDS-related illness, death, or caring for orphaned children. Our analysis examines female-heads'' financial and social resources and how these resources buffer against hardship in households affected by AIDS. We find considerable heterogeneity among rural female-headed households and their access to resources to combat AIDS-related hardship. Our findings have important policy implications both in terms of identifying individual and household vulnerabilities as well as leveraging the potential for resilience for female-heads in rural South African communities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

With data from a surveillance system that uses verbal autopsies to identify cause of death in rural South Africa, we investigated whether mortality from HIV/AIDS differs from other causes of death in its effect on household dependency ratio, and to what extent the effect is mediated by the baseline dependency ratio. Findings: (i) the impact of death from HIV/AIDS on the dependency ratio in 2005 is marginally positive compared with other causes of death, but (ii) the impact is overpowered by the effect of death at working age, and (iii) the baseline dependency ratio mediates the effects on the 2005 ratio of cause of death and of the individual's sex and age at death. Migration into and out of the household—anticipating or responding to a death—seems to be a key source of change in the household dependency ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sites for earning a living and for maintaining a family, of production and reproduction, remain geographically separated for many South Africans. Yet the common assumption that only fathers who live with their children provide support for them, substantially underestimates fathers' financial contributions to their children. In this article, we examine the association between children's connections to their fathers and paternal support. Using data on 272 children collected as part of a study of Children's Well-Being and Social Connections in the Agincourt sub-district of Mpumalanga, South Africa, we identify three types of connection between children and their fathers and four levels of paternal support. We present empirical evidence on histories of children's residence and support to advance three propositions: first, that children's co-residence with their fathers is neither an accurate nor a sufficient indicator that they are receiving paternal financial support; second, children are as likely to receive financial support from fathers who are not even members of the same household as from fathers with whom they are co-resident and, finally that children who receive support from their fathers for any part of their lives are likely to receive support consistently throughout their lives. These findings underscore the importance of using a more nuanced conceptualisation and more inclusive measurement of father connection and support in order to determine the contributions that men make to their children. Children born since 1991 are significantly less likely to receive support from their fathers than are those born before. This difference is not a reflection of different levels of support for children of different ages but is due to real changes in paternal action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demographic surveillance systems (DSS) depend on community acceptance and involvement to produce high quality longitudinal data. Ensuring community support also exposes power relations usually concealed in the research process. We discuss the Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance System in South Africa to argue that: 1) long-term presence and community involvement contribute to high response rates and data quality, 2) to maintain community support the project must demonstrate its usefulness, 3) reporting to community members provides valuable checks on the local relevance and comprehension of questions, and 4) community opinion can modify both wording and content of research questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To describe household change over a 10-year period of tremendous social, political, economic and health transformation in South Africa using data from the Agincourt health and demographic surveillance system in the rural northeast of South Africa. Methods: Examination of household structure and composition at three points: 1992, 1997, and 2003. These three years loosely represent conditions immediately before the elections (1992), short term post-elections (1997), and longer term (2003), and span a period of notable increase in HIV prevalence. Results: Average household size decreased and the proportion headed by females increased. The within-household dependency ratios for children and elders both decreased, as did the proportion of households containing foster children. The proportion with at least one maternal orphan doubled, but was still relatively small at 5.5%. Conclusions: This analysis is a starting point for future investigations aimed at explaining how HIV/AIDS and other sociocultural changes post-apartheid have impacted on household organization. The analysis shows both consistency and change in measures of household structure and composition between 1992 and 2003. The changes do not include an increase in various types of "fragile families", such as child-headed or skipped-generation households that might be expected due to HIV/AIDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To investigate the relationship between children's nutritional status and a series of measures capturing both the current status and the lifetime history of their connection with adult caregivers in the Agincourt sub-district of rural South Africa. Methods: Using data on a sample of 202 children from a recent ethnographic study of children's social connections and well-being, the authors (1) compare height for age and weight for age to an accepted international standard and (2) conduct bivariate analyses of the relationships between selected measures of social connection and extreme deviations below expected weight and expected height. Results: Fitted curves for weight for age and height for age fall between the 5th and 50th percentiles of CDC growth curves. Compromised nutrition, defined as being more than two standard deviations below expected height or weight, is associated with the death or non-co-residence of the mother, and with the absence of financial support from the father. The co-residence of maternal female kin as substitutes for the mother do not fully compensate for her absence. Conclusions: The findings highlight the importance of parental living arrangements, parental financial support, birth order and the composition of sibling sets, and lifetime residential patterns in facilitating access to nutrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An estimated 4 million children, or about 10% of the entire South African population, will be orphaned by the year 2015. There is growing consensus that the extended family system is no longer capable of providing for orphans given severe economic constraints. There is, therefore, an urgency to develop appropriate interventions to support families and take care of these children. This article examines some of the existing literature on child fosterage and uses it to highlight understudied aspects of the current situation of children orphaned through AIDS in South Africa. Of particular concern are the points of continuity and change in fosterage patterns before and after the onset of the epidemic in South Africa. I suggest that an understanding of the short- and long-term consequences for children orphaned by AIDS in South Africa calls for historical contextualisation given that child fostering, both voluntarily and involuntarily, has been a feature of black family life since well before the onset of HIV/AIDS. In addition, I demonstrate the value of examining kinship, family, and networks in order to fully understand the circumstances of fostering these children. The paper concludes with a call for more research on children orphaned by AIDS in South Africa that will provide not only more data, but also enrich theoretical approaches to studying patterns of child fosterage in Africa and elsewhere. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Using data collected by the Agincourt Health and Population Programme in a rural sub-district of South Africa's Northern Province, this paper describes the residential arrangements of a population in rural South Africa, and analyses the impact of these arrangements on children's educational attainment. Children with co-resident parents generally have higher levels of schooling than those who have one or no co-resident parents. However, having a father who is away from home as a migrant appears to benefit older children whereas, for girls aged 11 to 15, having a mother who is a migrant lowers educational attainment. Children who live in households headed by Mozambican refugees have lower levels of schooling than those who live in non-refugee households. Living in a household headed by a woman is not associated with lower levels of education and, for some age-sex groups, appears to be an advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focused on the temporal and spatial variability of sulphur dioxide (SO 2) from 2004 to 2013 over 36 ground-based (GB) stations located in Gauteng and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa. The assessment was based on the in situ SO 2 data, where the GB stations were sorted into different groups and in addition, kriging-based analysis and OMI SO 2 data (2004–2013) were deployed to study their seasonal spatial variability. It was observed that Pretoria west, Witbank and Randwater had high SO 2 levels and standard deviations. Although, winter played a major role in having peak SO 2 values in most of the stations, it was surpassing that in spring the SO 2 levels of Witbank and Pretoria west stations dropped and Randwater had the highest standard deviation of 11.2 ppbv in October. A prominent seasonal variation was seen in all the groups, excluding Mpumalanga power stations (MP) group. This was particularly evident in the Vaal Triangle group. Highveld group ranked topmost level with elevated SO 2 values proceeded by the MP group in all the temporal time scales. The spatial based analysis further proved that the highest SO 2 levels were centred around major industrial regions of Mpumalanga, regardless of all the seasons. Image 1 • We have investigated the temporal and spatial variations of SO2 over South Africa by utilising GB instruments and OMI SO2 data. • The seasonal diurnal variations inferred double peaks in SO2 for most of the ground based stations in winter. • The overall temporal based analysis showed the highest SO2 values over hotspot regions in South Africa, as expected. • Most of the stations demonstrated a general seasonal variation except measurements nearer to power stations. • The spatial analysis based on OMI SO2 measurements, showed a similar trend as predicted by ground based measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author comments on three papers in this issue that take very different approaches to uncovering how HIV/AIDS is affecting members of households in South Africa. Posel and colleagues explores local understandings of the disease and death. Schatz addresses the role of elderly women in caregiving. Collinson and Wittenberg look at the trends over time in household composition in Agincourt and nationally.