New study finds SA's little children are in deep crisis

South Africa’s children are in deep crisis — hungry, neglected, abused, developmentally challenged — the under-fives are facing challenges that, if addressed swiftly and well, could boost the country’s development. 

Unless the government and the private sector step up efforts to support South Africa’s neediest children and fix their challenges, even the best efforts made when they are older will not be successful because the damage will already have been done. 

This “invest early to boost national development” policy brief is the main takeaway from the South African Child Gauge 2024, launched on Wednesday by the Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town. 

The report is published every year and monitors what is happening regarding early childhood development in South Africa. It reflects on progress made in line with the National Integrated Early Childhood Development Policy adopted in 2015, which lays out an agenda for 2030. 

This year the report identified challenges that have emerged since the Covid-19 pandemic, with families and government departments being increasingly pressurised by rising poverty and austerity cuts. These are stalling progress and threatening the development and survival of children. 

The alarming gauge has found one in every 25 babies born in South Africa dies before their fifth birthday. More than a third of children live in households where their basic needs are not met and more than one in every four children under the age of five is stunted — meaning they are chronically malnourished and their physical growth and brain development is compromised.

On top of this, less than half the four- and five-year-olds attending early learning programmes (ELPs) are developmentally on track. 

This year’s gauge has found that to break free from intergenerational cycles of poverty, violence and ill-health, there needs to be renewed focus on addressing the challenges babies and little children face. This is because physical and brain development happens in the first few years of life and damage caused during this time can usually not be reversed. 

Five key interventions were identified:  

• maternal and child healthcare; 
• nutrition and food security;  
• opportunities for early learning; 
• caring for families in need of support; and 
• identifying and supporting children who need extra care.

The main challenges that need to be addressed were identified as: 

• developing more systems to identify and support children with developmental delays, disabilities and other long-term health problems; 
• tackling hunger by restoring the value of the child support grant to the food poverty line with income support for pregnant women;  
• reducing the costs of a basic food basket; 
• regulating the marketing of unhealthy foods to the young; and 
• establishing the long-awaited National Food and Nutrition Security Council. 

To improve ELPs, increasing the value of early childhood development (ECD) subsidies to state-supported ELPs and simplifying their registration process was crucial, with investing in educating and training ECD practitioners. 

It was also recommended that more support be given to poor families compromised by factors beyond their control. This included strategies such as income support and affordable childcare for working mothers, strengthened support from churches and community organisations and encouraging more men to be active in childcare. 

Multiple adversities facing many young children, such as high levels of poverty, malnutrition, violence and neglect, could be addressed by building the capacity of frontline workers to identify and proactively respond to danger. 

The gauge called for government to prioritise early childhood development to “breathe life into the system and make it work”. 

TimesLIVE