Child Support Grant Has Saved Millions of Children, but There Is Still a Way to Go

Since the child support grant was introduced in 1998, the number of children living below the food poverty line has decreased, from 53% of all children in 2003 to 33% in 2019.

But there is still a way to go. The economic effects of the covid pandemic have reversed some of the gains, pushing an additional 1.2-million children into food poverty. As of 2024, 7.8-million children live below the food poverty line.

Researchers have repeatedly called for the grant to be increased. The value of the grant — R560 a month — is less than the food poverty line of R796, so it is not sufficient by itself to protect a child from food poverty. The Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity group has calculated the cost of meeting a child’s nutritional needs to be between R826 and R1,085, depending on the age.

Many children qualify for the grant but do not receive it. About 48% of eligible infants did not receive the grant in 2020, according to the Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town.

More than a quarter of children in South Africa are stunted due to malnutrition. About 1,450 children under the age of five died of acute malnutrition in 2023.

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