Perspectives of South African caregivers in receipt of Child Support Grants: Implications for family strengthening interventions

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leila Patel ◽  
Tessa Hochfeld ◽  
Jenita Chiba
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Child Support ◽  
Family Strengthening

Children, Citizenship and Child Support: The Child Support Grant in Post-Apartheid South Africa

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francie Lund
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Child Support ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
African Government ◽  
Poor Households ◽  
Identity Document ◽  
National Welfare ◽  
Child Support Grant ◽  
State Pension ◽  
Opening Up

In April 1998, the post-apartheid South African government introduced a monthly cash transfer for children in poor households. A requirement for getting the grant was that the birth of the child had to be registered, and the adult primary caregiver had to have the citizen identity document. The success of the system of support was contingent on the new democratic government's ability to integrate into one national welfare system what had been fragmented under apartheid into many racially separated systems; it also, ironically, built on the apartheid-era state pension delivery system. Within a decade the grant reached more than ten million children, and was associated with a rapid increase in birth registrations, marking the poorest children's first step into citizenship, and opening up the possibility of later access to other programmes and entitlements.

scholarly journals Invariance of the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale Across Different Groups of Adolescents and Young Adults

2021 ◽  
pp. 037957212110196
Author(s):  
Rainier Masa ◽  
Anjalee Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Food Insecurity ◽  
South African ◽  
Child Support ◽  
Model Fit ◽  
Household Food Insecurity ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Nested Models ◽  
Household Food ◽  
African Youth ◽  
Food Insecurity Access

Background: Cross-group comparisons of household food insecurity and its associations using multiple-item scales assume that scale scores can be interpreted as identical across groups. However, scores should not be interpreted as identical across groups without evidence of measurement invariance. Noninvariant measures indicate that the underlying construct may be different across groups. Objective: To determine whether the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) is invariant across different groups of Ghanaian and South African youth aged 15 to 24. Methods: We analyzed cross-sectional quantitative data from 1437 and 4165 young South Africans and Ghanaians, respectively. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine whether the HFIAS was invariant across different groups of youth, including sex (male or female), age group (middle adolescence, late adolescence, or emerging adulthood), and receipt of child support grant (yes or no). We assessed 3 levels of invariance: configural, metric, and scalar. The model fit between nested models was compared using χ2 difference testing. Results: Invariance tests indicated that the HFIAS had configural, metric, and scalar invariance across different groups of Ghanaian and South African youth. Model fit statistics across all invariance levels indicated good fit of our hypothesized model with the observed data. χ2 difference testing results were not statistically significant across all nested models. Conclusions: Food insecurity, as measured by the HFIAS, meant the same thing for different groups of Ghanaian and South African youth. Evidence of invariance means that the HFIAS scores could be interpreted as identical across youth groups in our study.

scholarly journals Shaming Fathers into Providers: Child Support and Fatherhood in the South African Media

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Polite Chauke ◽  
Grace Khunou
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Child Support ◽  
Print Media ◽  
Media Influence ◽  
The South ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
The Media ◽  
African Media ◽  
Newspaper Articles

The media influence society’s understanding of gender and other social phenomena including how we view fatherhood. Fatherhood is rarely presented positively in both visual and print media. Through an analysis of newspaper articles from The Sowetan, City Press, The Daily Sun and The Pretoria News, this article shows how shaming is used to represent fatherhood and child support in the South African print media. These representations, the article argues are limiting and provide fewer positives for fathers and fail to account for socio-economic challenges experienced in relation to fatherhood. In conclusion, the article illustrates that the media could play an important role in presenting a balanced sense of fatherhood, where affirmation of positive fatherhood is used as a more effective way of representing fatherhood in the media.

scholarly journals JUDICIAL DISCRETION IN THE DETERMINATION OF POST-DIVORCE CHILD SUPPORT: A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE APPLICATION OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MAINTENANCE ACT 99 OF 1998 AS COMPARED TO THE CANADIAN FEDERAL CHILD SUPPORT GUIDELINES OF 1997

Obiter ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marita Carnelley ◽  
Juanita Easthorpe
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Child Support ◽  
Current System ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Legal Systems ◽  
The South ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Support Guidelines

There are various models for determining and allocating child support obligations post-divorce and many different principles upon which such a policy can be based. In most legal systems the parents retain the duty to support their needy children after divorce as it is primarily their obligation to ensure the adequate financial welfare of their children. This principle is applicable in both the South African and Canadian legal systems. In South Africa, in terms of both the common law and legislation, both parents must maintain their children “according to their respective means”. The awarding of a specific amount of maintenance is, however, a complex process calculated by the courts on a case-by-case basis mainly by considering two issues: the needs of the children and the parents’ ability to maintain their children within the circumstances and means of each of the parents. Although both aspects are important in a maintenance enquiry, the focus of this note is on the interpretation of the calculation of the contribution of each of the parents, especially the non-custodial parent. The interpretation of the concept “means” obviously has important consequences for the parties: the broader the interpretation of the “means” of a parent, the higher the proportion of the contribution of that parent would be towards the support of the children. This is especially important in South Africa where a substantial proportion of those who are obligated to pay maintenance is impecunious. The Canadian law rested on similar principles until 1997 when the federal government promulgated the Federal Child Support Guidelines as an amendment to the Divorce Act. The impact of these Guidelines on the calculation of the parental share of post-divorce child support has been far-reaching. The aim of this note is firstly to examine the meaning of the term “means” within the South African legal system as set out in the common law, the various statutes and as these have been interpreted by the majority of courts over the past century. The second aim is to give a brief overview of the Canadian Guidelines and to compare their current system with the South African scenario. The rationale for choosing this jurisdiction is (i) the fact that in both jurisdictions the courts have the ultimate say over the amount of support paid; and (ii) as the Canadian position before their 1997 amendments was similar to the current South Africa system, it was envisaged that by exploring their reasons for change and evaluating their current system, some useful insights might be gained in solving some problems experienced in the South African maintenance system. The note will conclude with some suggestions for reform in South Africa in light of the Canadian experience. 

Doing Politics in Bushbuckridge: Work, Welfare and the South African Elections of 2004

Africa ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 526-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isak A. Niehaus
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Child Support ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
The South ◽  
National Elections ◽  
School Feeding ◽  
National Congress ◽  
Ruling Party

AbstractIn the South African national elections of 2004 the ruling ANC (African National Congress) increased its majority, particularly within the poorer, black, rural voting districts. Drawing on ethnographic research that I conducted in Impalahoek – a village in the Bushbuckridge municipality of the Limpopo Province – this paper investigates reasons for this pattern of voting. With reference to a survey of 87 households I show that unemployment, crime and disease had increased dramatically between 1990/1 and 2003/4. Yet, at the same time, there have been considerable improvements in access to state pensions, housing, school feeding schemes and child support grants. In this context, I argue that the ANC's election campaign highlighted the capacity of government in service provision, and that voting for the ruling party constituted a strategic attempt to obtain access to state-controlled services. Hence the election was characterized by neo-patrimonial politics and by a transactional logic of voting. Voting for the ruling party does not amount to an ideological endorsement of its policies, and discontent is more likely to be expressed through boycotting the elections rather than voting for opposition parties.

scholarly journals Motor development in children living within resource poor areas of the Western Cape

2007 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Jelsma ◽  
G. Ferguson
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Motor Development ◽  
Child Support ◽  
Infant Development ◽  
Sole Source ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Developmental Quotient ◽  
Maternal Characteristics ◽  
Long Term Impact

Introduction: In 1986, Irwin-Carruthers tested 681 BlackAfrican babies from the Western Cape and concluded that the South African sample was in advance of the Denver sample both in fine and gross motor behaviour. This study was to determine whether the motor development of isiXhosa speaking children from the same area was still advanced compared to their North American counterparts.Method: The Bayley Scales of Infant Development-II were administered to 86 children attending well baby clinics, between the ages of 1-36 months.Results: The mean motor developmental quotient was 92 (SD=15). Twenty eight percent of the sample was either significantly or mildly delayed. No socio-economic or maternal characteristics were associated with this score.Conclusion: The reasons for the decrease in performance are not clear. The socio-economic situation of the mothers was poor and there were a large number of single mothers whose sole source of income was government child support grants.  It is likely that the cause of the decrease is multi-factorial. The mothers are clearly in need of emotional and financial support. It is suggested that the introduction of stimulation programmes might be useful inreducing the long term impact of this delayed development.

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