Living alone in the age of freedom: The paradox of solo households in postapartheid South Africa

Abstract

This paper considers an apparent paradox in South Africa: the share of single‐person households increased after the end of apartheid despite the ending of apartheid's racial laws that restricted ‘African’ families from living together, the postapartheid state's building of around four‐million low‐cost houses for families, the economies of scale offered by multiple‐person households in a country where poverty remains prevalent and the reduced significance of some of the longstanding sites of single‐person households—including mining compounds and hostels for men. Bringing together quantitative and qualitative data, we argue that solo dwelling remains associated with persistent rural–urban spatial divisions, increased migration and urbanization, continued declining marriage rates and the nature of employment. These arguments are supported by quantitative data that show an increase in solo dwelling, its greater occurrence among men and working‐age African men, in particular, its concentration in certain urban spaces and the way it fluctuated in the 2000s according to changing labour market conditions. We also draw on a township survey and interviews that show how, as apartheid restrictions collapsed, new areas of land suitable for solo living became available in the 1990s and provide examples of unmarried and married adults living alone, including to access work opportunities.