Distribution of female-headed households in South Africa 2022, by province

As of 2022, some 42 percent of the households in South Africa were female-headed. Provinces with larger portions of rural areas, such as Eastern Cape (49.6 percent), and Limpopo (47.1 percent), were more likely to share large numbers of female-headed households. In contrast, rather urbanized provinces, such as Gauteng (35.3 percent), which includes Johannesburg, were less likely to have families headed by women.