Abstract
The provision of Child Support Grants (CSGs) is argued to be one of the South African government’s most useful poverty alleviation strategies. Historically, state agencies and social policies have favoured and worked with frameworks linked to the male breadwinner model. However, with increasing numbers of women managing households as heads and de facto heads, attention has shifted to women’s experiences of hardship and understandings of how social assistance can benefit them and their children.
The present research examines the viewpoints of grant recipients who are amongst the most vulnerable and marginalised of people in South African society. The CSG’S effectiveness in helping poor households is systematically analysed in this research by closely looking at the use of the grants in selected households. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were utilised to obtain the information. Individuals in fifteen recipient households were interviewed to assess the ‘impact’ of the grant in fulfilling the human development needs of children.
The study suggests that women in households are strategic in the way they solicit and make use of the grant. The CSG is used mostly for food and clothing, not only for the child but commonly for the whole family. The CSG offers minimal support, which often prevents families from slipping into dire poverty. However the grant money alone cannot completely take them out of hardship.
The households highlighted that the CSG is largely insufficient as an aid or as the main income to adequately support the family on a monthly basis. It is imperative that women find work opportunities which in turn improve their lives and make them move out of clutches of poverty. Additionally, they require men to be more visible, and more supportive, through involvement in the household.
M.A. (Sociology)