The impact of father absence on SA children

Professor Dasarath Chetty explores the alarming rates of father absence in SA, examining its impact on children’s emotional and social development. He discusses the historical and social factors contributing to this crisis, and calls for a collective responsibility towards child welfare

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BEING a volunteer in the child welfare movement for many years teaches one many things — the most important of which is the primacy of family values in a civilised society.

The family is the traditional unit of socialisation. It is where we assume an identity, where we learn our values, where we grapple with the moral and ethical contradictions of what we are taught, where we seek comfort and support, and learn coping mechanisms and life skills that remain with us for life. This is complemented by schools, churches, peer groups, universities and other agencies.

In what is often considered a conservative view in contemporary times, many of us still believe that children need to be reared by mummy and daddy in the same home, being physically and emotionally present, even though the gender roles previously taken for granted are rapidly changing.

Unfortunately, South Africa has one of the highest rates of absentee fathers in the world. Over 61% of children under the age of 18 do not live with their biological fathers. Of this number, 10.1% of children’s fathers are deceased, while 51.7% of children’s fathers are alive, but not living with the child.

Only 33% of South African children live with both their parents; and of the remaining 67%, only 39% live with their biological mothers and 4% with their biological fathers. The other 57% lived in other kinds of care, including extended families, mainly grandmothers, government institutions or child-headed households.