Hunger stalks SA children – report

THE stark poverty facing the country’s youth has been highlighted in a report released by Statistics South Africa which reveals that about 65.1% of children live in households that fall into the bottom two income quintiles that have a per capita income of less than R650 a month.

The report, titled Social Profile of South Africa 2002-11, noted that 71.1% of black African children lived in low-income households, compared with only 4.2% of white children.

“About 35% of children lived in households without any employed members, and social grants and remittances were vital to improve the access to food and education,” statistician-general Pali Lehohla said in the introduction to the report, based on the general household survey data.

The report focuses on the household characteristics and living arrangements of vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly and people with disabilities, as well as their vulnerability to hunger, access to food, social grants, econom- ic activity, education, housing and basic services.

Female-headed households were more likely to have low incomes and depend on social grants, and less likely to have employed members, the findings showed. Women and female-headed households were found to be predominantly responsible for the care of children.

The report found that 28.6% of children had inadequate, or severely inadequate, access to food. Last year, 16.8% of all children resided in households that experienced hunger.

“The analysis shows that 20% of households without any employed members experienced hunger compared with 11% of households that have at least one employed person.

“The percentage of households that experienced hunger declined consistently between 2002 and 2011,” Lehohla said.

The data showed that 4.7% of children were double orphans, 11.1% paternal orphans and 3.3% maternal orphans. Only one-third (32.6%) of children lived with both parents.