Families, Communities and Youth Outcomes in South Africa

Investigator:   David Lam

This project, a collaboration with the University of Cape Town, analyzes the effects of family background and community characteristics on the outcomes of young South Africans. In particular, the project investigates the effects of economic shocks, health shocks, and family disruption, including the impact of HIV/AIDS, on outcomes such as educational attainment, employment, earnings, migration, marriage, and fertility. The project uses a number of existing data sets, including censuses, household surveys, and school surveys. It is also conducting a new longitudinal survey of about 3,000 young people in metropolitan Cape Town. They will be interviewed in two rounds over a three-year period, making it possible to study the determinants of progress in school, transitions from school to work, job search success, migration, transition into marriage, and fertility outcomes. Funded all or in part by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with additional support from the NIH Office of AIDS Research and the Mellon Foundation.

Funding Period: 05/01/2001 to 04/30/2006

Further information: http://caps.psc.isr.umich.edu/

PSC Research Themes:

Life Course Transition: Child, Adolescent, and Adult (Family Formation, Fertility, and Children)
Labor Force Participation, Occupations (Human Capital, Labor and Wealth)
South Africa (Regional Studies)
School, Returns to Education (Human Capital, Labor and Wealth)
Contextual Effects (Group Disparities)


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