Determinants of Child Poverty in a South African Township: A Case of Boipatong Township

Poverty studies have received unprecedented attention in the past decade and there is still a lot of research around poverty measures and efforts to reduce extreme poverty as per the MDG goal number one. Research shows that the most affected groups of people where poverty prevails are women and children. Child poverty is considered to be one of the main causes of chronic poverty, and its eradication stands to be a shared goal worldwide. The study investigates the possible determinants of child poverty in the Boipatong Township. A logistical regression is used to investigate the effects of the household’s total income, employment status, age, of the household head, the number of people in the household and gender of head of household on child poverty. The results of the study indicate that employment status of the head of the household, number of people living in the household and total income of the household are significant determinants of child poverty status in Boipatong. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n1p23