Seminar: ‘Discussing the Gender Dynamics and Policy Implications of the Child Support Grant: Evidence from Doornkop, Soweto.’

Presented by Prof Leila Patel, Director of the Centre for Social Development in Africa, University of Johannesburg, and the lead researcher of this study.

Date:               Thursday, 23 August 2012
Time:              12:30–13:30
Venue:            Humanities Building 7-14
RSVP:             [email protected]

Since the introduction of the Child Support Grant (CSG) in 1998, the majority of the beneficiaries are women. The grant reaches 10,7 million children which comprises approximately 55 per cent of the total number of children in South Africa. The CSG is internationally recognised to be an innovative intervention to reduce poverty and promote child well-being. In 2012 the CSDA released a report of a study on the gender dynamics of the Child Support Grant in the poor urban community of Doornkop, Soweto. Prof Leila Patel will present some key findings from this study relating to poverty, income and livelihoods of grant recipients; the use of the grant; the effects of the CSG on food security, health and social cohesion; and the empowerment of women. She will discuss the implications of this research for policy and practice.