2014 Child Gauge Report tells the story of the South African Child

Sonke is pleased to announce the launch of the ninth South African Child Gauge report which is published annually by the Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town and which monitors progress towards realising children’s rights. The 2014 report focuses on the prevention of violence against children. Sonke contributed to the writing of this report and will be co-launching the child and youth-friendly version of the Gauge with the Children’s Institute at the Clocktower at the V&A Waterfront on the 26th of November at 3pm.

The Child Gauge includes many telling statistics which indicate how children in South Africa are faring. Here’s an interesting excerpt: “Children in the poorest 20% of households are least likely to live with both parents: only 18% have both parents living with them, compared with 78% of children in the least-poor 20% of households. Less than one third (29%) of African children live with both their parents, while the vast majority of Indian and White children (79% and 78% respectively) are resident with both biological parents. Just over a quarter (26%) of all African children do not live with either parent and a further 42% of African children live with their mothers but without their fathers. These figures are striking for the way in which they suggest the limited presence of biological fathers in the domestic lives of large numbers of African children.”