South Africa’s Child Support Grant and the dignity of female caregivers
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Date
2014Author
Wright, Gemma
Noble, Michael
Ntshongwana, Phakama
Neves, David
Barnes, Helen
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Show full item recordAbstract
The Child Support Grant (CSG) is social assistance for children with low income caregivers. It is
currently paid at the rate of R310 per month and there are more than 11 million child
beneficiaries. Almost all (98%) of the caregivers are female. The CSG is administered by the
South African Social Security Agency (http://www.sassa.gov.za). Qualifying requirements
include: the primary caregiver must be a South African citizen, permanent resident or refugee;
their income (and the income of their spouse if they have one) must fall below the means test
threshold; the child/children must be under 18 years; children aged between 7 and 18 years must
attend school; and both the applicant and the child must reside in South Africa. The caregiver
and child need to register biometrically with SASSA: finger-prints are captured along with a
voice recording and a photograph.