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Review of the Child Support Grant: Uses, Implementation and Obstacles
2. Approach to the Study
The aim of this study is to review the implementation and use of the CSG and to examine operational issues that hinder access. More specifically, the study considers the following themes with regard to the CSG: • Demographic profile of both households and the primary caregiver. • Household dynamics regarding utilisation of the CSG and decision-making on how it is spent. • General implementation challenges and operational barriers to access. • An additional focus on children under two years.
2.1. Methodology The Terms of Reference (ToR) for this study specified that a household survey should be undertaken. It was originally suggested that the sample for this survey should focus on those receiving the CSG and should draw on the information contained in the DSD’s social grant and pension system (SOCPEN) database, which contains information relating to social grant payments. However, there were concerns about access to this database due to issues of confidentiality. In addition, some of the themes to be addressed by the study as outlined in the ToR required the inclusion of non-recipients. The study design was therefore changed to include primary caregivers who receive the grant and those who do not, and consisted of the following components: 1. A review of existing research relevant to the implementation of the CSG. 2. A survey of households in low-income areas that were potentially eligible for the CSG (regardless of whether or not the households are recipients of the CSG). 3. Interviews with governmental officials, representatives of payment agencies and civil society organisations familiar with the implementation of the CSG 4. Focus groups with adult recipients and non-recipients of the CSG. Although the primary caregiver receives the CSG on behalf of the child, the child is the intended recipient.
In this study, therefore, the term beneficiary refers to the child, while recipient is used to refer to the primary caregiver who receives the CSG on behalf of the child. 2.1.1. Review of Existing Studies The review of existing studies relevant to the CSG ran concurrently with the preparation for implementation of the survey. The aim of the review was to provide a context to the study and to build on existing work. The review covered studies previously commissioned by the DSD as well those conducted by academic institutions and other research organisations. 2.1.2. Household Survey This consisted of a national household survey of 2 675 respondents. a. Sampling Strategy for Survey To be able to study both the use of the grant in recipient households and the barriers experienced by those not receiving the CSG, it was necessary to develop a sampling strategy that targeted those most likely to be eligible for the grant, whether or not they were receiving it. The study was restricted to areas in which households were most likely to meet the eligibility criteria. It was assumed that, given the relatively high coverage of the CSG, a stratified random sample which targeted lower income areas would include sufficient recipient households, while also providing access to a smaller number of low-income non-recipient households. To achieve this, the sampling strategy for this study consisted of the following steps: 1. Data from Statistics South Africa’s Census 2001 were used as the overall sampling frame. While these data are now quite old, the census remains the most comprehensive sampling framework publicly available. 2. Two methods of determining Enumerator Areas (EAs) for inclusion in the study were used. The first calculated the average monthly household income from the Census data and used an average of R1 400 as a cut-off for the definition of low income areas to