Profiling South African Middle Class Households: 1998-2006

Mosidi Nhlapo, Statistics South Africa
Barbara A. Anderson, University of Michigan

Aspects of material standard of living are used to define the middle class. The percent of all South African households in the middle class changed little 1998-2006. About 85% of White households were always in the middle class. The percent of urban African households in the middle class rose (15% to 22%). By 2006, there were as many African middle class households as White middle class households. Comparing the percent of middle class African and of White young adults who hold professional or managerial jobs, Whites are much more likely to hold professional or managerial jobs, even after differences in education are taken into account. Differences between Whites and Africans in managerial jobs are much greater than for professional jobs. A White young adult with less than a matric (high school diploma) is more likely to hold a managerial job than is an African young adult with a BA degree.