SA no place for a child

South Africa is not a good place to be a child.

Despite the strides the country has made in widening access to education, few children will grow up to be prosperous adults.

According to the SA Child Gauge report released by the University of Cape Town's Children's Institute yesterday, 58% of children under the age of nine live below the poverty line - in households that have an income of less than R604 per adult a month.

Malnutrition has stunted the growth of more than 25% of children under the age of three .

At junior school, one in six children travels a long distance to school, and at high school the situation is even worse - with one in five pupils travelling long distances.

An estimated 24% of children travel long distances in search of healthcare and 14% go hungry.

The statistics highlight the wide wealth gap that continues to exist almost 20 years after South African democracy was established.

Experts warn that poverty in childhood will have dire consequences for the future.

Lizette Berry, a senior researcher at the Children's Institute, said the unequal society in which children grow up threatens their development and will have a long-term adverse effect on the country.

"Poverty effects children's health and nutritional status," said Berry.

"The quality of nutrition in the early years affects brain development, intelligence, schooling outcomes and economic productivity in adulthood.

"Education outcomes are poor, a tell-tale sign that many young children are ill-prepared for formal schooling and a pointer to the challenges in the education system."

There were 18.5million children in South Africa in 2011, 20% of whom were orphans, 24% of whom did not live with their biological parents and 0.4% of whom lived in child-headed households.

The report said that an estimated 53% of children live in urban areas, 74% in formal housing and 21% in overcrowded households.

Two-thirds of the child population have access to drinking water and 69% have access to sanitation. But not all is lost.

According to Minister of Social Development Bathabile Dlamini, about 900000 children have benefited from the government's Early Childhood Development programme.

By March, 11million children had benefited from child-support grants, more than 500000 from foster-child grants and 120000 from care-dependency grants.

South Africa's school attendance rate has increased over the years to 97%.