Browsing by Subject "childcare"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Exploring the influence of intlawulo on father Involvement among Xhosa speaking black South African fathers raised and living in Cape Town
    (2020) Samukimba, Jill Chidisha; Moore, Elena
    Studies on African fatherhood represent African fathers as problematic and in South Africa, they are identified as ‘‘emotionally disengaged, physically absent, abusive and do not pay for their children's upkeep'' (Morrell & Ritcher, 2006:81). Many studies link the high rates of absent fathers to poverty and irresponsibility. Such literature is devoid of cultural factors that might be contributing to the high rates of absent fathers in most African communities. Across Southern Africa, intlawulo, a customary practice that involves the paying of a fine by a man responsible for impregnating a woman out of wedlock and his family to the pregnant woman's family. Historically, intlawulo served as a critical means of regulating and mediating unmarried fathers' involvement in their children's lives. Therefore, this explorative qualitative research project explores African fathers' experiences of intlawulo and its subsequent links to father involvement. To gauge their experiences and interpretation of intlawulo and father involvement, I conducted face-to-face in-depth qualitative interviews with a purposive sample of 8 black Xhosa speaking South African fathers from Cape Town who have gone through the intlawulo negotiations for the past five years or less. This study aimed to explore how the customary practice of intlawulo or ‘paying damages' influences a father's involvement in his child's life in Khayelitsha, an urban township within Cape Town. It argued that the payment of intlawulo regulates a father's involvement in childrearing, his interaction with and access to his child. In contrast to how fathering has been described in previous literature, this thesis argues that becoming a father is a process and intlawulo is the entry point where it can be denied, stopped and negotiated.
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    The associations of cash transfers and childcare for the development of children born to adolescent and young mothers in South Africa
    (2025) Tatham, Claire; Eyal, Katherine; Jochim, Janina
    Exposure to adversities strongly predicts early childbearing among adolescent girls and young women. Early motherhood is associated with negative effects on their children's developmental outcomes, but the factors contributing to the well-being of children born to adolescent mothers remain uncertain. The Child Support Grant (CSG) emerges as a potential avenue of support. This paper analysed cross-sectional data of adolescent mother-child dyads (N =1,046 mothers; 1,144 children) from the Eastern Cape of South Africa, collected between 2017 to 2019. Adolescent and young mothers (aged 10-19 at the birth of their first child) completed questionnaires on their well-being and health. The Mullen Scales of Early Learning Composite Score was used to measure children's cognitive performance in expressive language, receptive language, visual reception, and fine motor domains. This study assessed factors associated with CSG receipt and early CSG receipt. Additionally, this study tested the association between CSG receipt and child development, and the moderating role of formal childcare. The results reveal socioeconomic factors such as having sibling, low maternal education and caregiver support to influence CSG access and timeliness. Moreover, both early CSG receipt and formal childcare had a significant positive effect on child development. To ensure timely access to CSG receipt, SASSA offices should run outreach campaigns targeting first-time adolescent mothers with low levels of education and intervention promoting caregiver support. There is also a need to develop flexible CSG policies that recognise the essential role of different family members and provide additional support. Social protection systems for children of adolescent mothers requires approaches that acknowledge the role of maternal human capital development in determining child outcomes and takes advantage of age-related opportunities for intervention.
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    What is childcare really about? An ethnographic analysis of care relationships in a resource-poor community
    (2005) Bray, Rachel; Brandt, René
    The main aim of this paper is to examine critically the nature of childcare, including ideals and practices, in a resource-poor community through close ethnographic analysis of three sets of data generated over the course of two years. We argue that childcare in Masiphumelele should be conceptualised as having an emotional component that operates in parallel with, and is as important as, material provision and practical action. Further, the analysis reveals the extent to which childcare is shaped by poverty and must be thought about in relation to broader physical and social mobility, and the continuities within such movement. We also show that HIV can further shape childcare by challenging existing cultural practices, such as those pertaining to communication between children and adults regarding death. Future work on childcare would benefit from the conceptual approach adopted across this work, one which views children and their carers in a series of interrelated and dynamic contexts that include both kin and non-kin, and extend from the household to the broader family and friendship networks which support these multiple individuals.