We use longitudinal data from the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) to document the
extent of recent short‐term residential and household compositional change in South Africa.
We analyze the demographic correlates of these transitions, including population group,
age, urban/rural status, and income. We examine educational and labour market transitions
among movers and the prevalence of the four major types of compositional change – births,
addition of joiners, deaths, and loss of leavers. We find that short‐term household change is
prevalent in South Africa. During a 2‐year period from 2008 to 2010, 10.5% of South Africans
moved residence and 61.3% experienced change in household composition. We find that
moving is more common among blacks and whites, very young children, young adults, urban
individuals, and those with higher incomes. Among non‐movers, compositional change is
more likely for blacks and coloureds, young adults and children, females, urban individuals,
and individuals with lower incomes.