An Analysis of the Perceptions of the Consequences of Child Poverty: The Case of Boipatong Township

Abstract

The need to deal with poverty and child poverty in particular cannot be overemphasised. Children around the world are among the most helpless victims of poverty, more especially in sub-Saharan Africa where the number of children under 18 years of age is a bigger percentage of the population. The need to deal with child poverty becomes an even urgent issue when considering the consequences of poverty in children, both during the childhood days and even when they are in their adulthood. This paper analyses the perceptions of the consequences of child poverty among the households in Boipatong Township. The objective was to analyse the difference in perception, between different groups of people. The results indicate that there are significant differences between females and males in what they perceive to be the consequences of child poverty. A total share of 50% Males and 50% females vastly disagreed on the perception that poor children are likely to get involved in drugs and they also disagreed (that these children are likely to have poor academic outcomes among other things. The study also found differences in the perceptions of the poor vis avis the non-poor.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n21p239