Family social security benefits in South Africa

Social grants as safety net for HIV/AIDS-affected households in South Africa

“…In relative terms, however, coverage is low compared with the old age pension and child support grant. Most marked was the increase in the coverage of the child support grant over this relatively short period, as was highlighted by Guthrie (2002).The number of beneficiaries on average grew at 138% per annum, rising from 34 thousand in 1998 to a staggering 2.6 million by April 2003.Trends in the number of grant beneficiaries in the Free State province for the most part mirror national trends. iii Apart from the role of social grants in general in alleviating poverty, the old age pension, child support, disability, care dependency, and foster care grants in particular are also likely to play an important part in mitigating the socio-economic impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, given the associated increase in morbidity and mortality, the orphan crisis and the resulting impacts on household composition and formation (Guthrie, 2002;Seekings, 2002;Van der Berg & Bredenkamp, 2002).The old age pension and the disability, care dependency and foster care grants furthermore are all relatively large grants (the current monthly Rand values of each of these grants as reported by the National Treasury (2003) are noted above in parentheses), and are therefore likely to play a particularly important role in supporting poor, affected households.…”

“…South Africa has a well-developed system of social security that is on a par with systems in many developed countries, unlike in many other developing countries (Guthrie, 2002;Seekings, 2002).This system includes a non-contributory pension system, as well as a number of social grants aimed at assisting households in caring for children and for the disabled.The discussion in this paper distinguishes between five specific social grants (i.e. old age pensions [R700/month], the child support grant [R160/month], the disability grant [R700/month], the care dependency grant [R700/month], and the foster care grant [R500/month]), as well as access to grants in general (defined as access to any one of these five grants).…”

Contentious Care: Foster Care Grants and the Caregiver–Orphan Relationship in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa

“…An underlying principle has been for the grant system to bring together health care, nutrition, shelter and social services when targeting the basic needs of the vulnerable-with preliminary evidence suggesting positive impacts on individual and family lives (Guthrie, 2002). Numerous studies have illustrated how the FCG is a means of survival for many households caring for orphans and the grants have helped improve the nutritional status of children and decreased economic inequality (Case et al, 2005; see also Woolard & Klasen, 2005).…”

Gender and social assistance in the first decade of democracy: A case study of South Africa's Child Support Grant

“…The major criticism of the grant is its small size as well as the age limit of 14 (Manicom, 2003;Guthrie, 2002). R180 is not sufficient to meet even the minimal needs of a child.…”