A national election year could be a time for political parties to address the crisis facing children by offering the nation a new path towards ending child poverty. Here's a look at how some party manifestos deal with issues relating to children.

In South Africa 25% of all children face a life of poverty, unemployment or low-paying work, simply because they never got enough to eat.

Those one in four children suffer from stunting brought on by malnutrition and it is a disorder that stubbornly maintains a grasp on our society even in a time when the social grant system should have wiped it out.

In fact, over the past three decades, stunting levels have changed little, says Merwyn Abrahams, the programme director at the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice & Dignity Group.

"This is one of the scariest statistics in South Africa today because it is the biggest impediment to socioeconomic development going forward," he explains.

The reason for this is that besides a lack of nutrition, stunted growth also impedes cognitive development.

"It is more likely that those children will enter the workforce as labourers in a fast-changing global economy and world of work because of their cognitive impairment," says Abrahams.

For him, the presence of such high levels of malnutrition shows that the current welfare system with its various grant interventions for children is not working as it should.

But with national elections it could be a time to address the...