Granting assistance: an analysis of the Child Support Grant and its extension to seven- and eight-year-olds

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dc.contributor.authorLeatt, Annieen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2014-07-30T08:23:47Z
dc.date.available2014-07-30T08:23:47Z
dc.date.issued2004-05en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThis paper focuses on the Child Support Grant (CSG), the biggest poverty alleviation mechanism targeting children. The extent of poverty and increased social security provision in South Africa are examined to contextualise the CSG. Since its inception in 1998, this grant has been available to poor children from birth to six years of age. At the beginning of April 2003, eligibility was extended to children under the age of nine as a first step in extending the grant to all poor children up to the age of fourteen. This paper considers the first year of this extension. Using administrative data from the Department of Social Development and relevant development literature, the paper assesses the reach of the CSG and its extension relative to the departments own targets, and absolute poverty lines. Provincial uptake rates are calculated with a view to identifying provinces where additional support is needed to increase uptake of the CSG. The remainder of the paper identifies administrative issues in the roll-out of the grant, highlighting the cases of children whose grants have lapsed due to the age limit, only to re-register a few months later, and concerns about the very low levels of the means test thresholds. The paper then looks at the demographics of beneficiaries of the CSG, including the gender, marital status, rural or urban location and relationship of caregiver to child. The author concludes that the department came close to reaching its own targets, and was successful in reaching very large numbers of children aged seven and eight in this first year of the extension. However, low uptake rates in the Eastern Cape Province in particular are highlighted, while problems in the administrative system are pointed out, as grants lapse because of the death of a caregiver or because of shifting age eligibility.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationLeatt, A. (2004). <i>Granting assistance: an analysis of the Child Support Grant and its extension to seven- and eight-year-olds</i> (Children's Institute Working Paper No. 2). Children's Institute. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/3947en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationLeatt, Annie <i>Granting assistance: an analysis of the Child Support Grant and its extension to seven- and eight-year-olds.</i> Children's Institute Working Paper No. 2. Children's Institute, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/3947en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationLeatt, A. 2004-05. Granting assistance: an analysis of the Child Support Grant and its extension to seven- and eight-year-olds. Children's Institute Working Paper No. 2. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.isbn0-7992-2258-5en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Working Paper AU - Leatt, Annie AB - This paper focuses on the Child Support Grant (CSG), the biggest poverty alleviation mechanism targeting children. The extent of poverty and increased social security provision in South Africa are examined to contextualise the CSG. Since its inception in 1998, this grant has been available to poor children from birth to six years of age. At the beginning of April 2003, eligibility was extended to children under the age of nine as a first step in extending the grant to all poor children up to the age of fourteen. This paper considers the first year of this extension. Using administrative data from the Department of Social Development and relevant development literature, the paper assesses the reach of the CSG and its extension relative to the departments own targets, and absolute poverty lines. Provincial uptake rates are calculated with a view to identifying provinces where additional support is needed to increase uptake of the CSG. The remainder of the paper identifies administrative issues in the roll-out of the grant, highlighting the cases of children whose grants have lapsed due to the age limit, only to re-register a few months later, and concerns about the very low levels of the means test thresholds. The paper then looks at the demographics of beneficiaries of the CSG, including the gender, marital status, rural or urban location and relationship of caregiver to child. The author concludes that the department came close to reaching its own targets, and was successful in reaching very large numbers of children aged seven and eight in this first year of the extension. However, low uptake rates in the Eastern Cape Province in particular are highlighted, while problems in the administrative system are pointed out, as grants lapse because of the death of a caregiver or because of shifting age eligibility. DA - 2004-05 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2004 SM - 0-7992-2258-5 T1 - Granting assistance: an analysis of the Child Support Grant and its extension to seven- and eight-year-olds TI - Granting assistance: an analysis of the Child Support Grant and its extension to seven- and eight-year-olds UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/3947 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/3947
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationLeatt A. Granting assistance: an analysis of the Child Support Grant and its extension to seven- and eight-year-olds. 2004 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/3947en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisherChildren's Instituteen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentChildren's Institute of UCTen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Health Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.relation.ispartofseriesChildren's Institute Working Paper No. 2en_ZA
dc.rightsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalen_ZA
dc.rights.holderCopyright 2004 Children's Institute, University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/en_ZA
dc.subject.otherchild povertyen_ZA
dc.subject.othersocial grantsen_ZA
dc.titleGranting assistance: an analysis of the Child Support Grant and its extension to seven- and eight-year-oldsen_ZA
dc.typeWorking Paperen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceWorking Paperen_ZA
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