Stunting, double orphanhood and unequal access to public services in democratic South Africa

Bridgman, Grace; Fintel, Dieter von

doi:10.1016/j.ehb.2021.101076

Cited by 11 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…The current research ndings suggest that poorer South African regions continue to have lower levels of public service provision, such as WASH infrastructure, but are well targeted by means-tested cash grants (32,35,36). South Africa's cash grant system has been found to be critical in reducing child poverty and food insecurity (37).…”

Section: Child Welfare In Different Regionsmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…Child health differs by region in South Africa, and also differs with household income (8,31,32). South Africa's former homelands, which are impoverished areas that were demarcated for "separate" and discriminatory economic and political development under the apartheid regime, continue to be the poorest areas in the country.…”

Section: Child Welfare In Different Regionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The data used in the analysis is adapted from Bridgman & von Fintel (2022). This dataset combines information from multiple publicly available secondary sources focused on orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) and service provision in South Africa, and will be referred to as the data on Orphaned and Vulnerable Children in South Africa (OVCSA).…”

Section: Data On Orphaned and Vulnerable Children In South Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The primary variables used to measure health outcomes for OVC in South Africa are the ward-level mean stunting and underweight prevalence rates of children under 5. A full description of the data compilation and any constructed variables can be seen in Bridgman & von Fintel (2022). 1 shows the spatial distribution of stunting and underweight prevalence by electoral ward in South Africa.…”

Section: Data On Orphaned and Vulnerable Children In South Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While scholarly literature has shed light on the role of orphanhood on a range human capital outcomes, less is known about the impact of single orphanhood and parental absence on child health outcomes in particular. Bridgman & von Fintel (2022) show that rates of double orphanhood and stunting are concurrently elevated in South Africa's former homelands -these are impoverished areas that were demarcated for "separate" and discriminatory economic and political development under the apartheid regime. The areas were profoundly impacted by a "migrant labour system"; men traditionally migrated from the homelands to work in urban areas.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Regional inequalities in single orphanhood, child nutrition and social protection in South Africa: a spatial econometric approach

Leach

Fintel

2023

Preprint

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Background: Orphanhood and parental absence are both associated with a range of childhood socioeconomic disadvantages. However, their separate effects on child health are not adequately understood. Absence limits parents’ psychosocial investment in children. In the case of orphans, reduced resource flows to children add an additional layer to the disadvantage. Social protection and extended family networks can compensate for material and psychosocial disadvantages. This paper studies the case of South Africa, where high rates of parental absence, orphanhood and child stunting co-exist. These disadvantages are geographically concentrated in the former homelands, impoverished areas affected by a range of apartheid-era discriminatory legislation. Homelands households typically form around the elderly who take care of children on behalf of absent migrant worker parents, or who adopt orphaned children. Methods: This paper firstly maps the geography of single orphanhood and child nutrition, establishing whether various disadvantages are concentrated in the same regions. Spatial econometric models accounting for regional spill-over are used to estimate associations between child nutrition, parental absence, orphanhood, state support and household resources. Results: There are strong overlapping regional inequalities in child nutrition and orphanhood. Disadvantages are concentrated in former homelands. Father absence and paternal orphanhood rates have similar positive associations with local stunting rates. Household resources and access to social services do not moderate this association. By contrast, maternal absence and maternal orphanhood are insignificantly correlated with stunting. However, maternal absence is negatively correlated with child underweight. Conclusions: Father presence is more strongly associated with child outcomes than material resources, suggesting that fathers also make non-material or psychosocial contributions to child health. Maternal absence and orphanhood rates have smaller associations with chronic health outcomes. In fact, our results support the hypothesis that absent working mothers who migrate to urban areas remit incomes to benefit the acute nutrition status of children. Addressing regional inequalities in orphanhood and child nutrition requires more than the local expansion of public social safety nets in areas of high vulnerability. Rather, the bigger challenge of addressing father presence will make a large contribution to improving children’s health outcomes.

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Section: Child Welfare In Different Regionsmentioning

confidence: 82%

Section: Child Welfare In Different Regionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Data On Orphaned and Vulnerable Children In South Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Data On Orphaned and Vulnerable Children In South Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Regional inequalities in single orphanhood, child nutrition and social protection in South Africa: a spatial econometric approach

Leach

Fintel

2023

Preprint

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The Self-Rated Health of Grandmothers Caring for Grandchildren: Evidence from South Africa

Waterhouse,

Bennett

2023

Population Ageing

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Globally older people are increasingly providing care for their grandchildren. A pertinent question across world regions is the extent to which providing care for grandchildren intersects with the ageing process and the implications for grandparents’ wellbeing. This paper examines the relationship between caring for grandchildren and the self-rated health of older African women (n = 1,397) in South Africa, drawing on data from the National Income Dynamics Study. This is a population which faces significant socio-economic challenges and stresses from the legacy of the HIV epidemic but benefit from a supportive social protection system and strong norms of extended family care. The findings show that prior self-rated health is not associated with assuming primary caregiving responsibilities for grandchildren, suggesting there is no selection effect into caring responsibilities. However, after controlling for prior characteristics, older women who take on primary caring responsibilities for grandchildren have significantly lower odds of reporting poorer self-rated health. Thus, in contrast to the frequent conclusions of negative impacts of custodial grandparenting on grandparent health in the US, this paper indicates that in some cultural contexts grandparents taking on the primary responsibility for grandchildren can be protective for health. Policymakers need to recognise the important caregiving role of grandparents and support them to flourish.

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Stunting and wasting in a growing economy: biological living standards in Portugal during the twentieth century

Cermeño

Palma

Pistola

2023

Economics & Human Biology

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Stunting, double orphanhood and unequal access to public services in democratic South Africa

Cited by 11 publications

References 58 publications

Regional inequalities in single orphanhood, child nutrition and social protection in South Africa: a spatial econometric approach

Regional inequalities in single orphanhood, child nutrition and social protection in South Africa: a spatial econometric approach

The Self-Rated Health of Grandmothers Caring for Grandchildren: Evidence from South Africa

Stunting and wasting in a growing economy: biological living standards in Portugal during the twentieth century

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