The paper utilizes data from a 10% sample of the 2002 and 1988 Tanzania census and 2007 and 2001 South Africa census to examine trends, patterns and implications of living arrangements. Scholars point that socio-economic changes, increased urbanization and penetration of Western influence all contribute to prevailing changes in living arrangement in Africa. Descriptive analysis is used to demonstrate the pattern and trends of living arrangements in the South Africa and Tanzania. Using headship and the relationship to household head variables, five measures of household structure are created: one person, nuclear, extended, non-related and mother-child co-residence. On implications of living arrangement the paper focuses on children. This population segment is considered important given the high fertility rates and the broad base population structure of most developing countries which implies that the number of children will remain highly considerable for many years to come. Mother-child co-residence is considered because it has critical implications on child health, schooling opportunities and other demographic outcomes. Preliminary results for South Africa indicate a decrease in the average number of people living in a household implying a creation of new households. Multinomial logit models are used to test the effect of different individual and head of household characteristics on the living arrangements of children. Results of multivariate analysis for Tanzania suggest that among the most important correlates of children's arrangement include level of education, sex and employment status of household head. Results are important for policy implications and practical interventions to assisting children in difficult living arrangements.

Keywords: Living arrangement; Africa; Tanzania; South Africa

Biography: Esther W. Dungumaro is senior lecturer at the Institute of Development Studies and Demographic Training Unit, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She is a demographer by training and has been engaged in population, development and environment research throughout her career. She is currently involved in African Demographic Book Project which is a scientific and academic project to enable young African scholars to utilize African census data sets and write about the demography of the region.