Housing & servicesHousing & services

57%

 

of children lived in urban areas in 2022

Children living in urban or rural areas

Children are still more likely than adults to live in rural areas: 43% of children are in rural households, compared with 32% of adults.

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1.6

 

million

children live in informal dwellings

Children living in formal, informal and traditional dwellings

Dwelling types are divided into three broad categories: formal, informal and 'traditional'. Children who live in formal housing are more likely to have access to basic services and other social infrastructure provided to formal residential areas.

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3.5

 

million

children live in overcrowded dwellings

Children living in overcrowded households

Children are defined as living in overcrowded dwellings when there is a ratio of more than two people per room (excluding bathrooms but including kitchen and living room). Thus, a dwelling with two bedrooms, a kitchen and sitting-room would be counted as overcrowded if there were more than eight household members.

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Nearly 6 million

 

children do not have access to piped drinking water at their home

Children with access to piped water on site

Clean water is essential for human survival, but a third of children still do not have drinking water on site. There has been little improvement in children's access to water over the last decade.

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21%

 

of children in South Africa do not have adequate sanitation at home

Children with access to basic sanitation

Adequate sanitation includes flush toilets and ventilated pit latrines that dispose of waste safely and are within or near a house. Inadequate sanitation includes pit latrines that are not ventilated, chemical toilets, bucket toilets, or no toilets at all.

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93%

 

of children live in households with electricity connected to a mains supply

Children with access to a mains electricity connection

Access to electricity in the physical structure of a house is important for a range of reasons. Where there is no electricity, families use other fuels for lighting, heating and cooking. These are expensive and can pose health and safety hazards, especially for children.

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