South African Households Integration into the Core Economy - Micro Level Covariates

In this exploratory analysis of household survey data, households' main income sources are used indicators of integration into the South African core economy. Notwithstanding the country's high urbanization rates, the picture of household income generation which emerges is one that disputes common perceptions of the multitude of means by which African households generate their income. The majority of households under scrutiny rely to a large extent on one income source and one income earner. Separate multinomial logit analyses are undertaken for urban and non-urban households. In addition to the divide between urban and non-urban areas, prominent covariates of low core-economy integration are earners of female gender, old or young earner working-age, and low levels of education. Both provincial location and within-provincial, subregional location displays strong impacts. The study also finds associations between main income sources and households' demographic compositions which are compatible to findings both in studies on private transfers behavior and in the growing literature on endogenous household formation in South Africa.