Maternal AIDS Orphans and the Burden of Parenting in Youth-headed Households; Implications for Food Security in Impoverished Areas of South Africa

Abstract

The increasing number of AIDS orphans has led to an increase in child and youth headed households. Adjusting to the parenting role with no support from their extended family is a source of distress for orphans heading households. This study explored the parenting experiences of orphaned youth heading households in resource constraints environments. Methods: The participants were purposely selected from Youth-Headed Households (YHHs) located in informal settlements in the City of Tshwane, South Africa. The data analysis was inductive and followed the thematic approach. Results: Thirteen females and five males aged between 15-24 years were interviewed. The phenomenon of YHHs occured in impoverished informal settlements partly due to orphans being forcefully removed from their parents’ homes after the death of their mothers. The household heads felt morally obliged to care for their siblings, experienced parenting as burdensome, and the role adjustment from being a child to a parent difficult and demanding. The inability to provide adequate food to feed their siblings was a source of emotional stress. In an attempt to fulfil their parenting roles, they dropped out of school to find employment. Conclusion: Although the child support and foster grant are widely recognised for improving children's access to food, education, and basic services in South Africa, the lack thereof contributed to the economic hardships and vulnerability to food insecurity and hunger among orphans in YHHs. There is a need for multi-sectoral interventions to address food insecurity and, in so doing, improve the psychosocial wellbeing of orphans in YHHs.

Responding to Maternal Loss: A Phenomenological Study of Older Orphans in Youth-Headed Households in Impoverished Areas of South Africa

“…According to Converse [31], a sample size of 1-10 participants is adequate in phenomenological enquiry to obtain information that is useful for understanding the phenomenon under investigation [32]. The design of the study, the population, and the setting are defined in detail elsewhere [33].…”

Family Life in the Time of COVID

“…During the period of apartheid, the creation of homelands, the migrant labour system, influx control and Pass Laws 1 fostered the geographical separation of family life and employment, rupturing the family system (Knijn and Patel 2018). Similarly, the HIV and AIDS epidemic, initially marked by government denialism and subsequent inaction, disrupted the family systems' capacity to care for and support each other, resulting in compromised household security, significant loss of life and a sharp increase in the number of child-headed households (Sebola et al 2020). The contemporary South African family is characterized by heterogeneous living and caregiving arrangements, including many female-headed and multigenerational family systems and varied marital patterns (Mokomane et al 2019).…”