Child Support Grant access and receipt among 12-week-old infants in an urban township setting in South Africa

dc.contributor.authorZembe-Mkabile, Wanga
dc.contributor.authorDoherty, Tanya
dc.contributor.authorSanders, David
dc.contributor.authorJackson, Debra
dc.date.accessioned2017-12-01T11:11:09Z
dc.date.available2017-12-01T11:11:09Z
dc.date.issued2014
dc.description.abstractBACKGROUND: Cash transfers (CTs) are increasingly used as a strategy to alleviate poverty and improve child health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. The Child Support Grant (CSG) is the largest CT programme in South Africa, and on the continent, targeting poor children from birth until the age of 18 with a monthly sum of R300 (USD30). Evidence on the CSG shows that early receipt of the grant is associated with improved child health outcomes. Since its implementation, one of the major concerns about the grant has been take-up rates, particularly for younger children. This paper reports results on take-up rates for 12-week-old infants residing in an urban township in South Africa. METHODS: This is a descriptive study utilising data from a community-based, cluster-randomised trial which evaluated a programme providing pregnancy and post-natal home visits by community health workers to 3,494 mothers in Umlazi township, South Africa. RESULTS: At the 12-week visit, half (52%) of the mothers who had enrolled in the study had applied for the CSG on behalf of their children, while 85% of the mothers who had not applied were still planning to apply. Only 38% (1,327) of all children had received the CSG. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, many mothers had not applied for the CSG in the first few months after delivery, and only a third of children had accessed the grant. Further research is needed to understand what the current barriers are that prevent mothers from applying for this important form of social protection in the early months after delivery.en_US
dc.identifier.citationZembe-Mkabile, W. et al. (2014). Child Support Grant access and receipt among 12-week-old infants in an urban township setting in South Africa. Global Health Action, 7: 25310en_US
dc.identifier.issn1654-9716
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.3402/gha.v7.25310
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10566/3289
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.privacy.showsubmitterFALSE
dc.publisherCo-Action Publishingen_US
dc.rights2014.#2014 Wanga Zembe-Mkabile et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license.
dc.status.ispeerreviewedTRUE
dc.subjectCash transfersen_US
dc.subjectChild healthen_US
dc.subjectTake-up ratesen_US
dc.subjectChild Support Granten_US
dc.subjectSouth Africaen_US
dc.titleChild Support Grant access and receipt among 12-week-old infants in an urban township setting in South Africaen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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