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Associations of formal childcare use with health and human capital development for adolescent mothers and their children in South Africa: A cross-sectional study

Cluver, Lucie; Jochim, Janina; Mapukata, Yolanda; Wittesaele, Camille; Shenderovich, Yulia; Mafuya, Sandisiwe; Steventon Roberts, Kathryn; ... Toska, Elona; + view all (2023) Associations of formal childcare use with health and human capital development for adolescent mothers and their children in South Africa: A cross-sectional study. Child: Care, Health and Development 10.1111/cch.13138. (In press). Green open access

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Abstract

AIM: This study aims to investigate associations of formal childcare with maternal and child outcomes in a large sample of adolescent mothers. BACKGROUND: Forty percent of adolescent girls in Africa are mothers. Increasing evidence shows positive impacts of formal childcare use for adult women, but no known studies in the Global South examine associations for adolescent mothers and their children. METHODS: We interviewed 1046 adolescent mothers and completed developmental assessments with their children (n = 1139) in South Africa's Eastern Cape between 2017 and 2019. Questionnaires measured childcare use, maternal and child outcomes and socio-demographic background variables. Using cross-sectional data, associations between formal childcare use and outcomes were estimated in multivariate multi-level analyses that accounted for individual-level and family-level clustering. RESULTS: Childcare use was associated with higher odds of being in education or employment (AOR: 4.01, 95% CIs: 2.59-6.21, p < .001), grade promotion (AOR: 2.08, 95% CIs: 1.42-3.05, p < .001) and positive future ideation (AOR: 1.58, 95% CIs: 1.01-2.49, p = .047) but no differences in mental health. Childcare use was also associated with better parenting on all measures: positive parenting (AOR: 1.66, 95% CIs: 1.16-2.38, p = .006), better parental limit-setting (AOR: 2.00, 95% CIs: 1.37-2.93, p < .001) and better positive discipline (AOR: 1.77, 95% CIs: 1.21-2.59, p = .003). For the children, there were no differences in temperament or illness, but a significant interaction showed stronger associations between childcare use and better cognitive, language and motor scores with increasing child age (AOR: 5.04, 95% CIs: 1.59-15.96, p = .006). CONCLUSIONS: Adolescent mothers might benefit substantially from formal childcare, but causal links need to be explored further. Childcare use was also associated with improved parenting and better child development over time, suggesting positive pathways for children. At an average of $9 per month, childcare provisions for adolescent mothers may offer low-cost opportunities to achieve high returns on health and human capital outcomes in Sub-Saharan African contexts.

Type: Article
Title: Associations of formal childcare use with health and human capital development for adolescent mothers and their children in South Africa: A cross-sectional study
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1111/cch.13138
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1111/cch.13138
Language: English
Additional information: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2023 The Authors. Child: Care, Health and Development published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Keywords: South Africa, adolescent mothers, adolescent pregnancy, human capital, school policies
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health > Infection and Population Health
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10172048
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