Abstract
Since the introduction of the Child Support Grant (CSG)
in 1998, the majority of the beneficiaries are now women.
The grant reaches 10.7 million children which makes up
approximately 55 percent of the total number of children
in South Africa. The CSG is internationally recognised
to be an innovative intervention to reduce poverty and
promote child well-being. The aim of the study was to assess the gendered
impact of the CSG in Doornkop, Soweto, which is a
poor urban community. A survey of 343 households
was conducted which was systematically sampled.
The findings may be generalised to other poor urban
areas with high uptake levels of the CSG. This report
contains the findings and conclusions of the study
which are briefly summarised below.
A total of 81.9 percent of the households surveyed
received one or more CSGs with an average of 2.2 CSGs
per household. CSG beneficiaries were mainly younger
women between 16 and 40 years (62 percent), who have
a secondary education (55.6 percent), and are likely to be
unmarried (48 percent) and the head of their households
(52 percent). The grant is well targeted at poor households and
particularly the very poorest. The CSG is the only regular
source of income in these households complemented by
other diverse sources of income such as pensions and
disability grants (33.5 percent), small business activities
(24.1 percent), casual work (23.7 percent), and limited
material and in-kind support from family and external
agencies (17.4 percent). Some households receive
private maintenance from the fathers of the children
(24.5 percent) who are not living with them although
many fathers do not pay maintenance (60.8 percent).
Only 12.5 percent of CSG beneficiaries were employed.
High unemployment among CSG beneficiaries is closely
associated with high overall female unemployment
nationally and the huge domestic and care responsibilities
of women with young children.