Increasing the Child Support Grant could eliminate child food poverty

Almost eight million young children in South Africa are too poor to access enough nutritious food to aid their development. This worrying statistic is not good news for the future of the country’s rainbow nation and cannot go unnoticed, said the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Paula Proudlock.

Proudlock is a senior researcher at UCT’s Children’s Institute (CI) and was part of a team of academics who authored the Reducing Child Poverty Report: A review of child poverty and the value of the Child Support Grant (CSG). Currently, the CSG sits at R530.

The report was commissioned by the national Department of Social Development and crucially focused on the prevalence of child poverty in South Africa, the outcomes, what this means for the nation’s children, and whether increasing the value of the CSG could reverse increasing child poverty. Its overarching message: invest early in children’s well-being or risk a healthy, well-rounded generation.

Hunger in numbers

With 20 million children in South Africa, the report found that 13 million received the CSG (via primary caregivers) – a grant aimed at low-income households to assist caregivers to care for a child’s basic needs. Yet, alarmingly, almost eight million children live below the food poverty line (FPL) – the estimated cost of buying the minimum daily food to meet energy needs. In 2023 the FPL sat at R760 per person per month.

This, Proudlock explained, especially affects children living in former rural homelands, where around four million are living in food poverty and about six million are living below the upper bound national poverty line – the minimum sum of money needed to cover basic food and non-food essentials like toiletries, clothes and transport.

These statistics, she added, are in sharp contrast to the Bill of Rights, which guarantees every child the right to basic nutrition and access to sufficient food and social assistance for their caregivers if they are unable to support themselves or their children. The Bill of Rights is part of the Constitution and is a cornerstone to the country’s democracy.

Racial and geographical distortion

Unsurprisingly, due to high levels of inequality and huge disparities between the haves and have nots, child poverty also remains racially and geographically distorted. The institute’s research findings indicate that black children and those living in former homelands are most likely to be poor. Past research into the national child FPL, conducted in 2019, proved this. That year, Proudlock said, national child food poverty was at 33%. Meanwhile, for black children, and children living in rural areas in former homelands, the rate was at 37% and 51% respectively.

“These poverty rates are exceptionally high and occur in contexts where there has been little investment in infrastructure and economic development.”

As with children, Proudlock said the elderly also tend to be overrepresented in rural communities in former homeland areas, when compared to working age adults. This, she added, also explains why many households located in these communities depend on social grants to survive.

“These poverty rates are exceptionally high and occur in contexts where there has been little investment in infrastructure and economic development and where there are few employment opportunities,” she said.

“In light of all this, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child; the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child have all recommended that the CSG amount be increased.”

Eliminating child food poverty

In this way, South Africa can eliminate child food poverty, Proudlock said. Currently, she explained, the grant’s purchasing power has eroded because it fails to cover the cost of a child’s food and clothing, as it originally intended when it was first introduced in 1998. This, she said, is due to many years of annual increases below food inflation. In 2022, the CSG came in at 28% below the FPL.

“An assessment of the CSG against international law finds that its value falls short on the principle of adequacy. The amount is not enough to provide for a child’s basic needs. It is not even enough to cover basic nutrition,” she said.

Therefore, researchers recommend strongly that the value of the CSG be restored to reach the FPL, at the very least. But because of the severity of child poverty overall, she said, this increase is only likely to benefit those who are not too far below the upper bound poverty line. And for those far below FPL, while the grant is considered “very useful”, it’s not nearly enough to take them over the national upper bound poverty line. To eliminate child poverty completely, the CSG should be increased to the upper bound poverty line.

Increase the uptake

As this crucial work gets under way, it’s also imperative to increase the number of young children who receive the CSG, added senior CI researcher Dr Katharine Hall. Dr Hall made these comments on the back of the recent launch of a second report – South African Early Childhood Review 2024 – a report that presents information on the essential components of early childhood development services. The report was published in collaboration with Ilifa Labantwana – a non-profit organisation committed to building a South Africa where everyone contributes to children reaching their full potential; and the Department of Planning Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency.

“Worryingly, we have seen a real decrease in the grant take-up among infants,” Hall said.

One of the main reasons for the decline, she explained, is because thousands of infants are not registered with the Department of Home Affairs and many young mothers don’t have identity documents at the time of giving birth. Both are generally required for a CSG application for an infant. The latest report found that as of March 2024, 200 000 less infants received the CSG compared to March 2020, just before the country went into lockdown. This decline for infants has occurred at a time when child poverty levels have increased dramatically.

“Eligible children must receive the grant from birth to fully maximise the associated developmental benefits such as improved nutrition and health outcomes,” the report read.

A phased approach

At this stage, Proudlock said, researchers recommend a phased approach to restoring the CSG to the FPL, using the existing grant top-up mechanism. They also suggest that the increase be phased in using age categories – with a focus on the pre-school group as a start. She acknowledged that a substantial increase is not likely to be agreed to by government due to the current state of the economy.

“This reform is a key mechanism to reduce child poverty, advance the realisation of children’s rights and will contribute to long-term human development outcomes and economic growth.”

Proudlock noted that the phased approach might be challenged on the basis that older children will continue to be disadvantaged. But she stressed the importance of prioritising children under six, due to their stage of development, their risk of stunting and the lack of state-funded nutrition programmes that will reach their age cohort at scale.

“This phased approach that we suggest will not shock the national budget and will substantially reduce child poverty within the next five years, which will yield positive impacts on many other areas of child well-being, including nutrition, health and education,” she said.

“This reform is a key mechanism to reduce child poverty, advance the realisation of children’s rights and will contribute to long-term human development outcomes and economic growth.”