Every single mother needs a financial safety net

SINGLE motherhood is becoming the norm in South Africa, with 42.3% of households headed by women. But with the cost of raising a child hitting R1.6 million and women's unemployment at 35.9%, financial planning has become a matter of survival.

- NICOLA MAWSON

WITH 42.3% of South African households headed by women and child-raising costs reaching R1.6 million, financial planning has become essential for single mothers. | FILE

Gerda van der Linde, Verso Wealth MD, says she and the female financial planners in her team have specifically seen that more women are finding themselves solely responsible for raising a child. She explains that this could happen for a variety of reasons, including divorce, the death or absence of a partner, or having to step into this role as the oldest child.

“Becoming a single mother can happen to anyone,” says Van der Linde. “This shift in family dynamics is not just a social issue - it's an economic reality with profound implications,” she adds.

Statistics South Africa's latest midyear population estimates note that just over half of all South Africans are women at around 32.2 million people, making up around half of the population in the core adult age range, at 49.8%, according to Personal Finance calculations. The 15-49 age range is considered by Statistics South Africa, the Department of Health, and the Demographic and Health Survey to be key childbearing ages.

Using this framework, if every woman in that age group were to have a child, roughly seven million women would be heading households, based on Statistics South Africa's Volume XI Gender Series' figure of 42.3% of households being led by women.