Escaping The Inequality Trap: The Case For Supporting Pregnant Women

HANDS-ON Experience Learning June 2023 | Issue 24

OPPORTUNITY

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ESCAPING THE INEQUALITY TRAP: THE CASE FOR SUPPORTING PREGNANT WOMEN

Build simple, loving connections for every child

_ South Africa is stuck in an inequality trap with too few people able to build the knowledge and skills needed to fully participate in society and the economy. Our human capital pipeline is throttled at source, as high rates of low birth weight, stunting and inadequate access to early learning opportunities mean many children enter school with enduring learning deficits. They are likely to join the 300 0001 learners that drop out of school annually; perpetuating inter generational cycles of social and economic exclusion. Stop and think about it: we already know that, without a major change in the way we treat our children, many of the babies born in South Africa today have no chance of fulfilling their human potential!

This learning brief will show how, and why, improved support for pregnant women can help address malnutrition and stunting in the critical first 1 000 days of a child’s life, thereby changing a child’s development trajectory.

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Van der Berg S., Wills G., Selkirk R., Adams C., Van Wyk C. 2019. The cost of repetition in South Africa. Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP13/2019. https://www.ekon. sun.ac.za/wpapers/2019/wp132019

ESCAPING THE INEQUALITY TRAP: THE CASE FOR SUPPORTING PREGNANT WOMEN

Issue 24 /// June 2023

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Escaping The Inequality Trap: The Case For Supporting Pregnant Women

Published on Jul 4, 2023

DG Murray Trust

South Africa is stuck in an inequality trap with too few people able to build the knowledge and skills needed to fully participate in society and the economy. Our human capital pipeline is throttled at source, as high rates of low birth weight, stunting and inadequate access to early learning opportunities mean many children enter school with enduring learning deficits. They are likely to join the 300 000 learners that drop out of school annually; perpetuating inter-generational cycles of social and economic exclusion. Stop and think about it: we already know that, without a major change in the way we treat our children, many of the babies born in South Africa today have no chance of fulfilling their human potential! This learning brief will show how, and why, improved support for pregnant women can help address malnutrition and stunting in the critical first 1 000 days of a child’s life, thereby changing a child’s development trajectory.