Demography of South Africa's children

2005

Children have been at the forefront of concerns regarding human rights violations in South Africa since 1976, when scholars took to the streets in protest against unequal education. Since that time, there have been many reports on the situation of children – first produced by child rights advocacy groups and, in the last decade, produced by both State and civil society institutions. Yet these reports have not been produced on a regular, annual basis; nor has there been any systematic means of tracking advances with child rights over time. The publication of the South African Child Gauge is an attempt by the Children’s Institute, University of Cape Town, to report on the situation of children as an annual reminder of the challenges that we, as a country, still face in our efforts to promote and protect child rights. Each year, the South African Child Gauge will examine the links between children’s reality, South Africa’s commitments to child rights, and society’s progress in this reg...

2013

(technical) Statistics South Africa 03-10-07 The South Africa I know, the home I understand 3 Preface South Africa's Constitution recognises the rights of children and has enacted laws and regulations that are aimed at realising these rights. The country ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1995 and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child in 1997. The Children's Act reinforces provisions in the Bill of Rights in the Constitution and specifically provides details of the responsibilities of parents and guardians in realising South African children's rights. This report presents statistics on young children aged below five years in South Africa, based on information collected from the General Household Survey undertaken in the country in 2012. It was prepared to provide supplementary information on births published in the Recorded Live Births, 2012 statistical release in order to describe the context into which children are born in South Africa. This report highlights the profile of young children in South Africa and provides the characteristics of their biological parents and the home environment in which children are raised. The report addresses questions on: who are the young children in South Africa; what are the characteristics of mothers and fathers who raise their biological children; and under what material and physical conditions do young children live. Answers to these questions provide the current status of the lives of young children in South Africa and how far the country has gone in realising the rights of children. The parental and home environment in which children live and are raised is one of the many factors that affect a child's growth and development. This report, therefore, provides the necessary evidence, based on quality statistics, to assist policy makers in making decisions towards the development of children in South Africa. This is in line with the theme of the 2013 African Statistics Day on "Quality Data to support African Progress" commemorated today (18 November 2013). It is anticipated that the findings presented in this report will provide valuable information that can be used to improve the welfare of young children in South Africa. Furthermore, it is hoped that the importance of using statistical data to inform social and economic policies will be realised and strengthened.

2012

The South African Child Gauge is a special book about children in South Africa. It is put together every year by the Children's Institute at the University of Cape Town, and helps people understand what needs to be done to improve the lives of all children in South Africa. The book is divided into three parts: Part 1 looks at laws and policies that affect children. Part 2 takes a closer look at a particular topic, such as health or education.

University of Cape Town, 2011

This edition of the South African Child Gauge would not have been possible without the assistance and support of the following individuals: • Children's Institute staff who provided comment on draft versions of the various contributions in this publication. • The specialists who spent time reviewing the essays: Key legislative developments affecting children in 2007 Joan van Niekerk (Childline South Africa), Daksha Kassan & Jacqui Gallinetti (both from the Community Law Centre, University of the Western Cape) Developmental social welfare policies and children's right to social services

Continuing Medical Education, 2007

The rights of children have become paramount as a result of many international initiatives to highlight the plight of children across the world. The key authoritative international instrument governing children's rights is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child. This was ratified by South Africa in 1995, and recognises the rights of all children to protection and care, social services, and special protection and assistance to children in difficult circumstances. 1 In addition, South Africa has ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and has instituted one of the most progressive constitutions in the world. Children's rights feature strongly in the Constitution's Bill of Rights and form the cornerstone of South Africa's legal obligations towards children. The Children's Bill, which has been in the making for the past 10 years, is a significant piece of legislation aimed at giving effect to some of the constitutional rights of children. The first part of the Bill, known as the Section 75 Bill, was passed in June 2005 and is now known as the Children's Act (No. 38 of 2005). The Act is not in force yet as the second part of the Bill, currently known as the Children's Amendment Bill, ii has yet to be passed as law. Prior to elaborating further on the Children's Bill, it is necessary to present a brief overview of the situation of children in contemporary South Africa. The context for children living in South Africa Children in South Africa continue to be afflicted by the consequences of apartheid. Twelve years into a democratic South Africa, gross inequalities and poverty persist, fuelled by high unemployment rates and poor access to resources for the marginalised. A rapid assessment of the situation of children in South Africa, conducted in 2003, revealed that major role players in the child rights arena identified poverty, child abuse and violence, HIV/AIDS, and a lack of access to services as the most significant challenges facing children. The fragmentation of the family unit and the loss of parents were also highlighted as challenges. 2 Available statistics on children paint a bleak picture of the conditions in which children live, learn, and socialise. Based on a review of current data on children, the situation for children is improving in some arenas; however on the whole, progress is gradual. Of the 18 million children living in South African households, 19% have been orphaned, iii and 0.7% live in child-headed households. iv,3 More than half (54%) of the country's children live in rural areas. 4 Key indicators of the status of children reveal the following:

Child Indicators Research, 2009

This article describes the methodology employed to create an index of multiple deprivation for children in South Africa at small-area level and presents the picture of deprivation across the country exposed by the index. Making use of information from the 2001 Census, 14 child-focused indicators were arranged into five domains of deprivation—income, employment, education, living environment and adequate care—which were then combined with equal weights to form an overall index of multiple deprivation at municipality level. The patterns of deprivation across South Africa within each domain and on the overall index are examined at national, provincial and municipal level. The article ends with a discussion of some of the strengths and weaknesses of the index and suggestions for future work in this area.

2001

The Population Studies Center (PSC) at the University of Michigan is one of the oldest population centers in the United States. Established in 1961 with a grant from the Ford Foundation, the Center has a rich history as the main workplace for an interdisciplinary community of scholars in the field of population studies. Today the Center is supported by a Population Research Center Core Grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) as well as by the University of Michigan, the National Institute on Aging, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Mellon Foundation. PSC Research Reports are prepublication working papers that report on current demographic research conducted by PSC associates and affiliates. These papers are written for timely dissemination and are often later submitted for publication in scholarly journals. The PSC Research Report Series was begun in 1981. Copyrights for all Reports are held by the authors. Readers may quote from, copy, and dist...

Journal of Biosocial Science, 2006

This study uses the 1996 Census and the 1998 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) to investigate the level of and trend in infant and child mortality and their covariates in South Africa. Census estimates of childhood mortality are higher than those from the DHS. Analysis suggests that the former overestimate mortality while the latter are probably slightly too low. Both inquiries document a reversal of the trend toward lower mortality in the 1990s. Under-five mortality increased by about a third during the five years up to early 1998. By then the infant mortality rate was about 55 per 1000 and under-five mortality 72 per 1000. Other factors may explain the tapering off of the decline in mortality after the late 1980s but AIDS deaths account for its increase. Inequalities in childhood mortality between population groups, rooted in past discriminatory apartheid policies, shrank between the late-1970s and mid-1990s. However, they remain substantial and are largely unaccounted for by province, metropolitan residence and inter-group differences in mothers’ education. The HIV/AIDS epidemic is likely to offset the beneficial impact of post-apartheid pro-poor policies and may exacerbate racial differences in childhood mortality in South Africa. There is an urgent need to improve the routine collection of statistics to monitor child mortality so as to assess progress towards the Millennium Development Goals and track inequalities.

AIDS, 2013

Objective: To analyse trends in under-five mortality rate in South Africa (1990Africa ( -2011, particularly the contribution of AIDS deaths.

Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, 1991

Birth to Ten is a longitudinal birth cohort study which began in April 1990 in the Johannesburg/Soweto area of Transvaal, South Africa. In this paper, the reason for the initiation of the study and its location in the current sociopolitical context is discussed. The health status of South African children in terms of infant mortality, morbidity (notifiable diseases) and nutritional status is described and mention is made of measures of psychological health and the importance of environmental pollution on health. The existing health service infrastructure in the study area is described and the fragmentation of health services between races, between preventive and curative services and on a geographical basis is highlighted. The study objectives, design, population, inclusion and exclusion criteria, methods of measurement and logistics are described.