Parent absenteeism and adolescent work in South Africa: An analysis of the levels and determinants of adolescents who work 10 or more hours a week

Using data from the 2010 Survey of Activities of Young People (SAYP) this paper examines the relationship between parent absenteeism and adolescents’ (10-17 years old) participation in the labour force in SouthAfrica. Due to widespread poverty and the impact of HIV/AIDS, adolescents are forced to forego schooling to seek employment. As Stanton et al. (2004) posited, parent absenteeism affects adolescents’ school completionrates and is associated with risky behaviour. This paper argues that parent absenteeism also forces adolescents to seek employment. Descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression are used. Results show that 1.58 adolescents per 1,000 adolescent population work 10 or more hours a week. Further, 38.7% of adolescents have at least one parent absent from the household. Almost 2% of adolescents who have at least one parent absent are not enrolled in school. Finally, adolescents are less likely to work more than 10 hours a week if a mother is absent from the household (0.34), yet more likely to work more than 10 hours if a father is absent (1.21)

Ecological approach to childhood in South Africa: An analysis of the contextual determinants

In South Africa, the educational attainment of African children has been a focal point of policy and research since the end of apartheid in 1994. Individual and policy-level determinants of child development and educational outcomes have been exhaustively investigated. A less researched perspective is the role of community and household composition on educational outcomes. The aim of this paper is to explore the socio-economic and demographic composition of communities and households that influence grade repetition among children in South Africa. The nationally representative South African General Household Survey of 2017 is analysed. The sample is children, 7–14 years old who have repeated a grade (N=529,624). Frequency distributions and multilevel modelling techniques are used to estimate the impact of household and community characteristics on child education outcomes. Results show that males (62.29%) and older children, 10–14 years old (61.27%), have higher grade repetition. In addition, children in female-headed households (54.57%) and poor households (61.13%) also have higher repetition rates. Finally, household poverty (OR: 1.617) and community poverty (OR: 1.944) are associated with increased likelihood of grade repetition. To ensure that South African children progress through school, the households and communities they are nested in require attention and intervention

Domestic violence and child health outcomes in Zimbabwe

Abstract: Background: This study intends to examine the association between domestic violence and selected negative child health outcomes in Zimbabwe. While studies have identified a number of factors affecting child health outcomes, the role of domestic violence has been neglected. Domestic violence, as a global public health concern, has been related to reproductive health outcomes, such as unwanted or unplanned pregnancy, lack of contraceptive use, preterm delivery and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. In addition, the reduction of child mortality levels worldwide has become a prominent issue and is addressed as Goal 4 in the Millennium Development Goals. However, the possibility of domestic violence being related to the health outcomes of their children has not been explored in the African context. Methods: This study is a secondary data analysis of the 2005/2006 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS). The ZDHS has been chosen as it is representative of the country as a whole. The total sample of 2,152 women who participated in the Domestic Violence module of the ZDHS was used in this study. Thus the population of interest in this study is physically abused Zimbabwean women who have children. The outcome variables of this study are poor nutritional health outcomes, stunting, wasting and underweight and under-five child mortality. The predictor variables are physical violence experiences, including, domestic violence, being hit during pregnancy and sexual violence. The data analysis happened in three stages. The first being univariate analysis of the variables in this study, to provide descriptive statistics of the study population. The second stage was bivariate analysis producing odds ratios to examine the association between each of the predictor variables with each of the outcome variables. The final stage was multivariate analysis using logistic regression and producing odds rations to examine more than one predictor variable with each outcome variable to obtain an association. Results: Associations were found between physical violence and the various negative child health outcomes. Of importance, domestic violence and being hit during pregnancy was found to increase the condition of wasting in under-five children. Similarly being hit during pregnancy is associated with increased odds of having underweight young children. Increased likelihood of the underweight condition is also associated with sexual violence experiences of the mother. However, sexual violence is not associated with stunting and / or wasting in under-five children

Adolescent mortality in South Africa: An analysis of unnatural causes of deaths by sex, 2000-2009

Despite South Africa being a peaceful democracy for the past 18 years, mortality due to unnatural and violent causes still occur among the youth, who are aged between 15 and 34 years old (Presidency of the Republic of South Africa 2009). However, this is not specific to South Africa; with developed countries experiencing the same trend. In developed countries, Christoffe (1994) found that death due to unnatural causes, specifically related to violence, had increased especially among the youth. South Africa is now moving towards the same transition that is currently experienced by developed nations in the world: violent deaths as a major cause of death amongst the youth which includes some adolescents (10-19 years old) (Norman, et al, 2007). With this in mind, this paper aims to examine the different levels of male and female adolescent mortality due to five unnatural causes of death. Data from South African Death Notification Forms is analysed for the years 2000-2009. Cause-specific mortality rates and proportional mortality ratios are produced. Results show adolescents are dying from events of undetermined intent, transport accidents’ and self- harm, especially males. The selected causes of death are contributing up to 27% of all adolescent male mortality and almost 12% of all female mortality in 2009. The results of this paper allude to crime, violence and safety issues in South Africa

Risky behaviour: a new framework for understanding why young people take risks

Theories of youth risk taking range from the realist to the sociocultural. Much of this theorising, particularly in the field of epidemiology, has been strongly influenced by the Health Belief Framework. More recently, attention has shifted to understanding how young people perceive risk and what makes some of them resilient to risk taking. In this article we develop a framework that brings together diverse theoretical perspectives on youth risk taking. We draw on lessons from across the social science disciplines to inform a conceptual framework incorporating the broad context and internal processes of young people’s decisions to take risks. Our Youth Risk Interpretation Framework (Y-RIF) has been developed from insights gained during an ethnographic study conducted in South Africa (REMOVED FOR BLIND REVIEW). We argue that our framework is useful, as it offers new ways of understanding why some young people take risks while others are more cautious. It could be used to inform youth behaviour surveillance research and interventions. However, it will need to be rigorously tested

Linkages between autonomy, poverty and contraceptive use in two sub-Saharan African countries

The paper presents the interaction effect of poverty-wealth status and autonomy on modern contraceptive use in Nigeria and Namibia with a view to examining whether poor women with less autonomy are less likely to use modern contraception than other women. A weighted sample of 3,451 currently married women in 2006-07 Namibia Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) and 23,578 in 2008 Nigeria (DHS) are used in the analysis. In Nigeria, the odd of using modern contraception is nearly 15 times higher among rich women with more autonomy than their counterparts who are poor and are less autonomous and 5.5 times higher among Namibian women. The study concluded that contraceptive behaviors of currently married women of Namibia and Nigeria are not independent of the linkage between poverty and autonomy and thus recommended that more concerted efforts be made in addressing poverty and improving the autonomous status of women in sub-Sahara Africa

Review of Sexuality Studies in Africa: Setting a New Post-2015 Research Agenda

At the nexus between reproductive health, population and development is the subject of sexuality which has generated extensive discourse in the past two decades. In this paper, we review Africa sexuality studies published between 1994 and 2015 with the aim of synthesizing the available evidence and suggesting a new research agenda for post-2015. Review findings showed that previous studies covered the five components of sexuality – practices, partners, pleasure/pressure/pain, procreation and power to different extents. Risky sexual behaviour was prevalent from adolescence till older ages. Literature on pleasure, pain, procreation and power reflect the complex diversity driven by traditional norms, gender roles and attitudes across the continent. Knowledge gaps were highlighted and new agenda suggested for sexuality research.Keywords: sexual behaviour, sexual violence, sexual pleasure/satisfaction, gender roles, socio-cultural norms, sub-Saharan Africa

Contextual determinants of adolescent mortality in South Africa

Objectives: South Africa has a large adolescent population (approximately 20% of the total population). The survival and development of these individuals are a priority among parents and the government. In an effort to better understand the factors contributing to adolescent mortality in South Africa, this study examined the effect of household and community factors on adolescent death. Methods: The study used data from Census 2001. Multilevel modelling was used to study the impact of community and household factors on adolescent mortality. A multivariate binary logistic 2- level model was developed. Odds ratios were produced and, statistically significant values (p<0.05) were discussed. There were 41,261 reported adolescent deaths from census data. Results: This study found that having a few household assets, six or more people living in a residence, and high racial diversity is associated with increased odds of adolescent mortality in South Africa in 2001. Conclusions: Socio-economic status of the household and racial diversity within communities is likely to increase adolescent mortality in South Africa. However, there is need to examine the role of other community characteristics, such as number of schools, health facilities and employment opportunities in order to create a holistic profile of the contextual determinants of adolescent mortality in the country

Does female autonomy affect contraceptive use among women in northern Nigeria?

Literature identified female empowerment as a predictor of positive health behaviour. However, in the context of conservative and traditional society, this is yet to be explored. This paper explores the role of female autonomy in contraceptive use among currently married women in northern Nigeria. Nationally representative Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS, 2013) data for 18,534 currently married women in northern Nigeria was analysed. Complimentary log-logistic regression (cloglog) was used to analyse the data. Current use of modern contraceptive was 6.6% among currently married women in northern Nigeria. Results show that female autonomy was significantly associated with modern contraceptive use. Respondents‘ education, wealth status and desire for no more children were associated with higher contraceptive use. Despite the conservative and religious context of northern Nigeria, female autonomy significantly predicts modern contraceptive use. Thus, empowering women in northern Nigeria, especially by education, will enable them to participate in healthy contraceptive decision making.Keywords: Female autonomy; Contraceptive; Reproductive health; northern Nigeria; Sustainable Development Goa

Removing barriers to registration for early childhood development centres

Background: Early childhood development (ECD) centres play a crucial role in children’s well-being. Multifaceted obstacles hinder ECD centres registration. Overcoming these challenges demands a multisectoral approach to ensure quality education for all children. Aim: This study provides an overview of the quality of ECD centres in South Africa, and then focusses on the specific obstacles ECD centres face in registering their centres with the Department of Social Development (DSD). Setting: An ECD census was conducted in nine South African provinces. Methods: This study analysed data from the South Africa ECD Census (2021). The sample size was 42 420; however, this study analysed data for 39 375 for centres who responded to whether they were registered with the DSD across all South Africa’s nine provinces. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: Only 16% of ECD centres were in the formal registration process, while 43% were not registered. Barriers included no bank account, a lack of separate classes, and insufficient staff. In multivariate analysis, the absence of a bank account strongly predicted registration barriers (RRR 4.21; CI 6.37–7.62, p  0.05). Conclusion: This study underscores the critical role of ECD centres in shaping the foundational aspects of children’s lives. There is an urgent need to streamline the ECD registration process. Contribution: The study finds 43% of childcare centres were unregistered, supporting the call for simplified registration to improve access to quality education and reduce educational disparities in South Africa