Leisure in the daily lives of South African economically active single mothers

Abstract

This paper represents a contribution to the emerging field of the geography of gender in South Africa. The focus of attention is leisure participation and leisure spaces of economically active single mothers in South Africa. Findings are presented from a survey on the nature, frequency and constraints affecting this group of women in Greater Pretoria. It is shown that economically active single mothers confront a host of constraints which impact upon patterns of leisure participation. A key finding is that the home is the essential leisure space for this sub-group of women. Certain clear divides exist between the leisure worlds daily experienced by white and black South African women.