The Economic Burden of Violence against Children in South Africa

Xiangming Fang, Xiaodong Zheng, Deborah A. Fry, Gary Ganz, Tabitha Casey, Celia Hsiao and Catherine L. Ward
Additional contact information
Xiaodong Zheng: College of Economics and Management, China Agricultural University, No. 17 Qinghuadong Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, China
Deborah A. Fry: Moray House School of Education, St John’s Land, 2.02, Holyrood Road, Edinburgh EH8 8AQ, Scotland
Gary Ganz: Department of Psychology and Safety and Violence Initiative, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
Tabitha Casey: Moray House School of Education, St John’s Land, 2.02, Holyrood Road, Edinburgh EH8 8AQ, Scotland
Celia Hsiao: Save the Children South Africa, 2nd Floor SAQA House, 1067 Arcadia Street, Hatfield 0028, South Africa
Catherine L. Ward: Department of Psychology and Safety and Violence Initiative, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa

IJERPH, 2017, vol. 14, issue 11, 1-14

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to estimate the economic burden of violence against children in South Africa. We assembled summative estimates of lifetime prevalence, calculated the magnitude of associations with negative outcomes, and thereby estimated the economic burden of violence against children. According to our calculations, 2.3 million and 84,287 disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) lost in South Africa in 2015 were attributable to nonfatal and fatal violence against children, respectively. The estimated economic value of DALYs lost to violence against children (including both fatal and nonfatal) in South Africa in 2015 totalled ZAR173 billion (US $13.5 billion)—or 4.3% of South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2015. In addition, the reduced earnings attributable to childhood physical violence and emotional violence in South Africa in 2015 were ZAR25.2 billion (US $2.0 billion) and ZAR9.6 billion (US $750 million), respectively. In addition, South Africa spent ZAR1.6 billion (US $124 million) on child care and protection in fiscal year 2015/2016, many of which costs are directly related to violence against children. This study confirms the importance of prioritising violence against children as a key social and economic concern for South Africa’s future.

Keywords: economic burden; violence against child; South Africa; disability-adjusted life-year (DALY) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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