A child-headed household has no adult caregivers available, and children live independently. This usually occurs when no adult caregivers are available. Older children frequently look after siblings, cousins, nephews, and nieces. This frequently occurred in underdeveloped nations where parents moved to distant cities for employment to support their families, in nations at war where both parents would be killed, or in unexpected events like pandemics and earthquakes where both parents would perish.

THE CAUSE OF CHILD-HEADED FAMILIES

Households headed by children represent a new coping mechanism in response to the AIDS pandemic in communities. Edmondson (2004) suggested that urbanisation, poverty, migration and new residential patterns have caused an increase in child-headed households. 

THE EFFECTS OF CHILD-HEADED FAMILIES

• Child-headed households face various psychosocial and economic challenges, such as hunger, starvation, high school dropouts, trauma and stress, exploitation, and vulnerability to various forms of abuse.
• Poor housing conditions: Many child-headed households live in overcrowded and unhygienic conditions. They have no tenure security, and their continued access to shelter depends on the farmer’s goodwill. There are real fears about their future as farms are resettled.
• Poor medical assistance: Due to lack of medical care or not getting any medical assistance, they frequently get sick, and most die while some suffer from different diseases. 
• Starvation: Having no food causes them to suffer and also die. 

THE SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS FACED BY CHILD-HEADED FAMILIES

Effective support to child-headed households must include context-specific social protection measures to strengthen community systems and safety nets. Poverty reduction, through youth-appropriate economic strengthening activities, cash transfers can provide essential support for food, medicine and access to school.

Day-cares and extra hands in taking care of younger siblings must be considered so the child heading the family can be a child on his/her own and enjoy being a child without worrying about taking care of their siblings. Also, therapy should be given to the children to relieve the trauma and the stress and focus at school without any distractions. 

Conclusion

One of the major concerns in Africa is child-headed families, which the governments have not paid enough attention to. If these families do not receive assistance from family and elderly community members, prostitution, crime, and domestic violence may result. The community and the child’s family must work together to provide the child with all the help they can because, most of the time, these children become psychologically damaged and impacted their entire childhood.