The factors associated with the access to early childhood development (ecd) facilities in South Africa: insight from the 2021 general household survey (ghs)
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Date
2023
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Publisher
University of the Western Cape
Abstract
Despite South Africa being a developed country, it has one of the highest and most persistent inequality rates in the world and this disparity is evident in the education sector. However, the country has sufficient resources to support children's education on all levels, but the number of children accessing education, the quality of education they receive, and the condition of their learning environment are causes for concern, especially the accessibility of Early Childhood Development (ECD) facilities in the nine provinces of South Africa. This study investigates the socio-economic and socio-demographic determinants that impact children aged six and younger’s accessibility to ECD centres. Factors, such as head of household, age, demographic group, level of education, employment status, income level, residential location, father part of household and mother part of household, are all considered. The study used data from the 2021 General Household Survey, which was obtained from the University of Cape Town’s DataFirst website, which was acquired from Statistics South Africa. The study employed univariate analysis, bivariate analysis, cross-tabulation using the Chi-square test of Independence and Multinomial Logistic Regression techniques to examine the associations or relationships between the type of ECD facilities, main reasons for not attending the ECD facilities and the place where the children spend most of their time with the socio-economic and socio-demographic factors. The data was analysed using both the Microsoft Excel and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 28 software programmes. A hypothesis was specified to determine the probability of a young child enrolling in a particular type of ECD centre, as well as the primary reasons for not doing so. There is a positive relationship between father participation and the access to and utilization of early childhood development (ECD) services. Children residing with both biological parents exhibit a higher propensity to utilize childcare services such as a Gogo or a nanny. Young families frequently utilize Gogo and childminder services to visit playgrounds while mothers who are actively engaged in their children’s lives are more inclined to utilize ECD services.
Description
Magister Philosophiae - MPhil
Keywords
Early Childhood Development, University of Cape Town DataFirst, South Africa, General Household Survey, Multinomial Logistic Regression