Who does the housework?: an examination of South African children's working roles

dc.contributor.authorBray, Rachel
dc.date.accessioned2016-04-25T07:44:11Z
dc.date.available2016-04-25T07:44:11Z
dc.date.issued2003
dc.date.updated2016-04-25T07:31:05Z
dc.description.abstractThis paper examines available survey data on children's participation in household work in the light of findings of primary ethnographic research with children and their families in two neighbouring urban communities. Its purpose is to shed light on the current process of policy development on child labour in South Africa, particularly in the light of mounting concern around additional work burdens on children caused by HIV/AIDS. The analysis contextualises children's work in the home within broader socio-economic trends and cultural norms around child-rearing, thus exposing the need to question the classification of different types of 'work' and 'risk' used in surveys. The ethnographic study revealed that the participation of children in everyday household chores is viewed as a function of their roles as members of a household and family, as part of their duty to their seniors and as an opportunity to learn skills required in adulthood. In this context, risk factors to child well-being are related not to their working roles, but to aspects of the broader socio-economic and physical environment that restrict or compromise children's development opportunities. A key lesson to be drawn from this paper is that the ability to question and re-frame international measurement criteria relies on the availability of longitudinal surveys and qualitative research on childhood, schooling and household dynamics in a variety of contexts in South Africa.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationBray, R. (2003). <i>Who does the housework?: an examination of South African children's working roles</i> University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Centre for Social Science Research(CSSR). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19162en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationBray, Rachel <i>Who does the housework?: an examination of South African children's working roles.</i> University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Centre for Social Science Research(CSSR), 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19162en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationBray, R. (2003). Who does the housework?: an examination of South African children's working roles. Centre for Social Science Research: University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Working Paper AU - Bray, Rachel AB - This paper examines available survey data on children's participation in household work in the light of findings of primary ethnographic research with children and their families in two neighbouring urban communities. Its purpose is to shed light on the current process of policy development on child labour in South Africa, particularly in the light of mounting concern around additional work burdens on children caused by HIV/AIDS. The analysis contextualises children's work in the home within broader socio-economic trends and cultural norms around child-rearing, thus exposing the need to question the classification of different types of 'work' and 'risk' used in surveys. The ethnographic study revealed that the participation of children in everyday household chores is viewed as a function of their roles as members of a household and family, as part of their duty to their seniors and as an opportunity to learn skills required in adulthood. In this context, risk factors to child well-being are related not to their working roles, but to aspects of the broader socio-economic and physical environment that restrict or compromise children's development opportunities. A key lesson to be drawn from this paper is that the ability to question and re-frame international measurement criteria relies on the availability of longitudinal surveys and qualitative research on childhood, schooling and household dynamics in a variety of contexts in South Africa. DA - 2003 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2003 T1 - Who does the housework?: an examination of South African children's working roles TI - Who does the housework?: an examination of South African children's working roles UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19162 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/19162
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationBray R. Who does the housework?: an examination of South African children's working roles. 2003 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19162en_ZA
dc.languageengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentCentre for Social Science Research(CSSR)en_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
dc.titleWho does the housework?: an examination of South African children's working rolesen_ZA
dc.typeWorking Paperen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceResearch paperen_ZA
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
article_hum_2003_bray_rachel.pdf
Size:
722.63 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.72 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Collections