Context: The state of poverty in South Africa is a consequence of the country’s racially
segregated past. Coping mechanisms to buffer the experience of poverty have been employed
by individuals within households (Klasen & Woolard, 2000). One such coping mechanism is
that of intergenerational households. Intergenerational households are well established in
South Africa, largely seen in Black families, however very few studies have embarked on the
outcomes of adolescents belonging to these households such as concurrent school and labour
force participation (Aliber, 2003; Edmonds & Pavcnik, 2005). Intergenerational households
experience economic strain that may induce children belonging to these households to seek
employment, resulting in children not attending school, having uncompleted schooling or
concurrently schooling and participating in the labour force.
The objectives of the study are to estimate the level of concurrent schooling and labour force
participation amongst adolescents in South Africa and determine the association between
residing in intergenerational households and concurrent schooling and labour force
participation amongst adolescents.
Methods: Secondary data from the South African 2010 Survey of Activities of Young People
(SAYP) is used with the sample size of 2 650 116 adolescents aged 7-17 years. Three levels of
analysis are employed: univariate: frequency and percentage distribution tables, bivariate: Chisquare
(?2) and multivariate: binary logistic regression.
Results: Thirty-one percent of adolescents reside in intergenerational households; 18% in multigenerational
and 13% in skip-generational households. The study found that 24.08% of
adolescents are concurrently schooling and participating in the labour force. The odds of
concurrently schooling and participating in the labour force were higher for adolescents
residing in intergenerational households. There is thus an association between residing in
intergenerational households and concurrent schooling and LFP amongst adolescents in South
Africa.
Conclusion: Adolescents residing in intergenerational households have higher odds of
concurrently schooling and participating in the labour force. It is thus important to focus on the
living conditions such as the experience of poverty and household structures to which
adolescents belong in order to understand their experiences and obstacles that may potentially
hinder efforts made towards youth education and thus development in the country.