The Reach of The South African Child Support Grant: Evidence from KwaZulu-Natal

The end of apartheid in South Africa brought with it the need to reform one component of the system of social assistance for poorer people – that dealing with support to women and children. Under the old regime, a State Maintenance Grant had been awarded by government to help mothers without partners support themselves and their children. The program originally — purposefully — excluded African women and, later, when it was opened to Africans living in some parts of the country, it continued largely to exclude those living outside of urban areas. In 1996 the new government moved to reconfigure this form of support, and in April 1998 started phasing out the State Maintenance Grant, replacing it with a means-tested Child Support Grant. This was to be awarded to the primary care givers of poor children under the age of seven. (A detailed description of these reforms is presented in Lund 2002a.) In early 2002, if a child’s parents’ or primary care giver’s total income did not exceed R1100 per month in rural areas (R800 in urban areas), the primary care giver could receive a monthly amount of R110 per eligible child.