Photo credit: RuriByaku

Children (0 –17 years old) are more at risk of becoming poor than adults (as reported here and here). Accordingly, they make up a large proportion of poor people globally. In 2022, for example, 50% of the 1.2 billion multidimensionally poor people from 111 countries were children. This makes child poverty a global concern. While pondering on this issue a couple of weeks ago, many questions came to mind about child poverty in my beloved Zimbabwe. One key question that stood out was: What is the state of child poverty within the country? I, therefore, felt a strong urge to carry out research on this and share findings since it is only when we become fully aware of the state of child poverty in the country that we become resolute in eradicating it. In today’s blog post, then, I shed light on the level, distribution, trend and nature of child poverty in Zimbabwe.

The level and distribution of child poverty  

Child poverty in Zimbabwe is relatively high. In 2019, for example, 60.7 % of Zimbabwean children were recorded as being multidimensionally poor, according to a recent UNICEF Zimbabwe’s child poverty report. Where child poverty distribution is concerned, the UNICEF report finds that it is higher among children aged 0 – 23 months (89.3%) and 24 – 59 months (75.1%) than among 15 – 17 years old (44.8 %); it is higher in rural (69.2%) than urban (37.6%) areas; and more concentrated in Matabeleland North (73.1%), Masvingo (68.3%), Mashonaland Central (67.8) and Matabeleland South (66.5) than in Bulawayo (37.9%) and Harare (39.2%). Furthermore, child poverty disproportionately affects certain groups of children, including those living in larger households, those headed by females, children with less educated parents (especially mothers) and those who do not live with their parents (UNICEF Zimbabwe, 2021).

The trend of child poverty

Child poverty in Zimbabwe, as reported here, has increased significantly. Between 2011 and 2019, a staggering 1.6 million children were plunged into extreme poverty (2021 World Bank Report). Child poverty within the country has worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other contributing factors, as reported here and here.

The nature of child poverty

Child poverty in the country is, by and large, multidimensional and complex. As the 2021 UNICEF Zimbabwe report indicates, most of the children living in poverty in Zimbabwe experience at least three dimensions of poverty at the same time. They simultaneously experience, for example, a lack of access to food, water, sanitation, housing, education and information. The lack of access to sanitation and malnutrition are the dominant dimensions of child poverty, as per the UNICEF Zimbabwe analysis. The fact that children experience the poverty dimensions concurrently implies that these dimensions interconnect and reinforce each other, making child poverty in the country complex. Furthermore, as UNICEF Zimbabwe observes, children who are poor in monetary terms are not necessarily multidimensionally poor and vice versa. This reinforces my critique of poverty measures in a scholarly article here.

The unacceptably high child poverty in Zimbabwe therefore demands a united effort. Child poverty adversely affects the lives of children now and in the future. For this reason, Iwe neni tine basa / You and I have work to do!