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Many stuck in 'poverty trap'
28/05/2007 12:34 - (SA)
Johannesburg - Children living in extreme poverty were unlikely to make it to the top without help, Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya said on Monday.
"Most of the South African families and communities - in particular those who were disadvantaged by the past regime - find it very difficult to get out of the poverty trap.
"They have remained poor throughout their life span and in most cases across generations."
Skweyiya was speaking in Johannesburg at the launch of Child Protection Week, and a symposium on tackling child poverty.
He said the causes of poverty and its nature were multi-dimensional.
Lack of basic services such as housing, water, electricity, education, as well as the disintegration of families, communities and social networks were some of the common features of poverty.
"Families and communities presenting these features suffer multiple deprivation which impacts on all its members, in particular children."
Skweyiya said that social grants remained to date one of the most effective ways to eliminate poverty.
He however acknowledged that tackling child poverty will require improving access to employment, essential public services and early childhood development for poverty stricken families.
- SAPA
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