The 3rd State of South Africa’s Fathers Report (SOSAF 2024) will be launched on 4 February 2025 at Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch.
Edited by Tawanda Makusha of the Africa Health Research Institute, Mandisa Malinga of the University of Cape Town, Wessel van den Berg of Equimundo: Centre for Masculinities and Social Justice, and Kopano Ratele of Stellenbosch University, SOSAF 2024 includes contributions on early childhood development, mental health, films about men as fathers, religion, aggression, socioeconomic conditions, evidence-based parenting programme, and social fatherhood.
SOSAF 2024 is the third edition of an evolving report on fathers and fatherhood in South Africa, The new SOSAF report confronts the evolving realities of fatherhood in a nation grappling with deep socio-economic challenges. With fewer children living with their biological fathers than with other men, and caregiving dynamics being reshaped by shifting gender roles and ideas about masculinity, the report offers a data-driven exploration of the lives of South Africa’s fathers.
Drawing on the 2023 General Household Survey and a global survey of adult caregivers, SOSAF 2024 uncovers the struggles, reflections, and emerging roles of men as traditional identities of fatherhood are challenged.
The report does not merely highlight the gaps between the realities and expectations about fathers. Instead, it seeks to change the narrative about fatherhood. By examining how care is shared and defined, SOSAF 2024 offers a fuller, more nuanced story of fathers. It sheds light on their contributions, struggles, and potential in a world where economic uncertainty, precarity, shifting gender norms, and systemic inequities shape their realities.
From exploring the financial and emotional support men provide to their children, to examining policy reforms and caregiving trends, this report is a call to change how we think about fathers and fatherhood – not just as a role but as a transformative force for men, children, families, communities, and society.
Whether you are a caregiver, policymaker, researcher, teacher, caregiver, or simply curious, this vital work challenges us all to reflect on what being a father and what fatherhood means and can mean in South Africa today.
Download: STATE OF SOUTH AFRICA’S FATHERS (SOSAF) 2024 REPORT (PDF | 8 Mb)