Housing and Services
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In developing countries, income measures are often not adequate not measure material well-being of families and, accordingly, child material well-being. [1]
Therefore, the South African's Children Institute includes several indicators of housing and access to services to monitor one aspect of child well-being in their Children Count project.
- Housing Type
This indicator shows distribution of children in different types of housing: formal, informal and 'traditional' dwellings. Formal housing is used as a proxy for ‘adequate’ housing. For the purposes of this indicator, ‘formal’ housing is made up of the following dwelling types: dwelling or brick structure on separate stand; flat or apartment; town/cluster/semi-detached house; unit in retirement village; room or flatlet on a larger property. ‘Informal’ housing consists of the following dwelling types: informal dwelling or shack in backyard; informal dwelling or shack in informal settlement; dwelling or house/flat/room in backyard; caravan or tent. ‘Traditional dwelling’ is defined as a ‘traditional dwelling/hut/structure made of traditional materials’.
People often do not know market prices for their land or livestock or the size of the land they own. Therefore, household surveys ask about the materials used in the construction of the household's construction. [2]
- Overcrowding
Children are defined as living in over-crowded dwellings when there is a ratio of more than two people per room (excluding bathrooms but including kitchen and living room). The over-crowding ratio is obtained by dividing the total number of household members by the total number of rooms occupied by the household. Thus, a dwelling with two bedrooms, a kitchen and sitting-room would be defined as over-crowded if there were more than eight people living in it.
- Access to adequate water
This indicator shows the number and proportion of children who have access to a safe and reliable supply of drinking water at their homes – either inside the dwelling or on site. This is used as a proxy for access to adequate water. All other water sources, including public taps, water tankers, dams and rivers, are considered inadequate because of their distance from the dwelling or the possibility that water is of poor quality.
- Access to basic sanitation
This indicator includes the number and proportion of children living in households with basic sanitation. Adequate sanitation includes flush toilets and ventilated pit latrines that dispose of waste safely and are within or near a house. Inadequate sanitation includes pit latrines that are not ventilated, chemical toilets, bucket toilets, or no toilets at all.
- Access to electricity
This indicator shows the number and proportion of children who live in households that are connected to the mains electricity supply.
See also
References
- ↑ Chowa, Gina & Ansong, David & Masa, Rainier, (2010). "Assets and child well-being in developing countries: A research review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(11), pages 1508-1519, November.Available at: http://csd.wustl.edu/Publications/Documents/WP09-66.pdf
- ↑ Chowa, Gina & Ansong, David & Masa, Rainier, (2010). "Assets and child well-being in developing countries: A research review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(11), pages 1508-1519, November.Available at: http://csd.wustl.edu/Publications/Documents/WP09-66.pdf
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