South Africans are more than familiar with the joys and the strain of having to look after extended family. Stretching the rand further than what is considered humanly possible is a lot of people’s lived experiences. This is commendable and something that should be celebrated, if only it didn’t come at such a big cost.
With impending job losses and an extended lockdown, the strain is going to be more pronounced. We’re all under pressure to keep afloat, and having to extend ourselves even further to look after members of the extended family may just be some people’s undoing.
It will take tough decisions to survive the next few months. Will it still be possible to help those you care about without jeopardising your own financial wellbeing?
StatsSA recently released the General Household survey 2018 results. Below are some of the findings that affect the youth in particular:
The base of grant recipients is far too large and unsustainable in the long run. It is, however, undeniable that the beneficiaries of these funds would be in complete distress without them. There is also a direct correlation between access to grants and improved childhood development which further strengthens the case for them to remain. According to a UNICEF report compiled by Alejandro Grinspun, ‘receiving the grant during the first two years of life significantly boosts child height, particularly among girls…Grants have helped close the gaps in nutrition between South Africa’s poorest and richest children.’ The graph below depicts how vulnerability to hunger has decreased significantly since 2002 which is attributed to an increased access to grants.
The graph below made me think a lot of my children and my interaction with them. After a long working day, reading to my children can often feel like such a chore. It is also evidently a luxury considering that almost half of the households surveyed have never had a parent/guardian read a book with a child.
How can we help?
Every child deserves a warm bed, regular nutritious meals
and a loving and protected environment in which to thrive. If you cannot find
any child in need to support directly, perhaps you can consider supporting a
non-profit organisation that would benefit children in need. Here are a few
links that may help:
Today’s children are tomorrow’s future leaders. How they are
raised today will directly impact and shape our world in a few years. We can
all make a difference. And we should.
What better way to commemorate youth month than highlight issues surrounding the youth of this country, and to also try and seek solutions to these issues.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is a body, who’s mission it is to promote policies that improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world by providing a forum in which governments can work together to share experiences and seek solutions to common problems. The OECD released a report with rather distressing findings. A summary of some of their findings are depicted in the graph below (these figures were updated in July 2018):
In summary,
child poverty rates increased in 13 of the 20
OECD countries with available data
poverty rates tend to be much higher in jobless
households than in households where at least one adult works
on average across the OECD, 63.4% of individuals
living in jobless households with children also live in relative income
poverty, compared to only 9.2% of individuals in working households with
children
out of 48 member countries, South
Africa has the 2nd highest percentage
of children with a
household disposable income below the poverty threshold.
Raising children today is far more challenging than it’s
ever been before with so many variables to consider. Compounding this effect,
particularly in South Africa, are the alarmingly high levels of income
inequality and poverty. Children are the
most affected by this.
What’s the solution then? If you are reading this article, you are one of the fortunate few and you have a unique opportunity to make a difference. One of the best things we can do is to equip our children for the future (we’ll suggest a few ideas during the month) and to try raise wonderful people that will make meaningful contributions to the world.
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