children under 6 years in south africa Table 1: The status of children under 6 living in South Africa in 2015, by province Population Indicator SA EC FS GT KZN LP MP NW NC WC source 6 235 000 884 000 304 000 1 185 000 1 316 000 756 000 528 000 463 000 144 000 655 000 a 4 785 000 582 000 288 000 1 142 000 874 000 561 000 422 000 354 000 112 000 449 000 30% 34% 32% 24% 32% 37% 35% 29% 35% 25% 3 528 000 350 000 258 000 1 152 000 515 000 127 000 186 000 224 000 97 000 620 000 57% 40% 85% 97% 39% 17% 35% 48% 67% 95% Rural traditional Children < 6 in rural former homeland areas 2 439 000 524 000 27 000 19 000 688 000 614 000 305 000 222 000 41 000 39% 59% 9% 2% 52% 81% 58% 48% 28% 0% Rural farms Children < 6 in commercial farming areas (old RSA) 267 000 11 000 18 000 114 000 15 000 36 000 17 000 7 000 35 000 4% 1% 6% 1% 9% 2% 7% 4% 5% 5% 1 972 000 529 000 24 000 82 000 539 000 370 000 167 000 159 000 37 000 69 000 32% 60% 8% 7% 41% 49% 32% 34% 25% 11% 1 504 000 151 000 65 000 97 000 375 000 372 000 196 000 141 000 32 000 75 000 24% 17% 21% 8% 28% 49% 37% 30% 22% 11% 3 875 000 701 000 195 000 456 000 984 000 581 000 335 000 298 000 83 000 242 000 62% 79% 64% 38% 75% 77% 63% 64% 58% 37% 1 855 000 419 000 89 000 161 000 480 000 325 000 152 000 134 000 35 000 60 000 30% 47% 29% 14% 37% 43% 29% 29% 24% 9% 1 811 000 405 000 99 000 143 000 444 000 331 000 141 000 140 000 42 000 66 000 29% 46% 33% 12% 34% 44% 27% 30% 29% 10% Number of children under 6 years Households with children under 6 Service access Area type Urban Children < 6 in urban areas (formal/informal) Inadequate water Children < 6 without piped water on site Poor sanitation Children < 6 without a toilet or VIP on site Poverty Child poverty Children < 6 living in poor households (< R965 in 2015) Food Poverty Children < 6 living in food poor households (< R415 in 2015) Workless households Children < 6 in households with no employed adults 14 000 a a a a a a a a a Data gaps and challenges We need to have reliable estimates of the young child population for the years in between censuses, which take place once every 10 years. • The results of Census 2011 were questioned at first because it seemed to over-count young children and under-count older children. • More recently, demographers have thought that the census may have been right – that there was an increase in fertility rates in the years preceding the census. The increase also became evident through the vital registration (births and deaths) data collected by the Department of Home Affairs. 10 South african early childhood review 2017 • A new model, used to calculate population weights for surveys, will be calibrated to the census and will reflect this upswing in fertility rates (and therefore the number of infants) around 2009, after which the rates start to decline again. • This Early Childhood Review could be underestimating the population and, as a result, also underestimating the extent of the challenge in reaching all young children with ECD services.