Systematically Excluded:Young women’s experiences of accessing the child support grant in South Africa
Research suggests that younger women who care for children are less likely than other caregivers to access the Child Support Grant (CSG), yet few studies in South Africa explore barriers to accessing the CSG. This brief presents the findings of an exploratory descriptive study that explored young women’s (18-25) access and use of social grants in urban informal settlements in Durban on behalf of their children, and the impact this has on their lives. 30 young women whose children were eligible for the Child Support Grant were recruited for in-depth interviews. Results indicated that young women who were receiving the CSG for their children found that this significantly improved their lives, allowing unemployed young women to support their families and take care of their children. Analysis suggested the following factors limited access to the CSG: the inaccessibility of relevant documents; the inaccessibility of, and lack of resources in SASSA offices; the verbal and emotional abuse directed to young mothers by SASSA and other government officials; and finally, bureaucratic arbitrariness. However, despite the challenges described by young women in applying for an accessing the CSG they also described how support from their families emerged as very crucial in the complex and confusing maze of government. These findings provide a better understanding of the barriers and facilitators to accessing CSG for young women.
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