Grants boost school attendance
July 24, 2009
By SAMANTHA ENSLIN-PAYNE
A survey on social grants, released by Statistics SA yesterday, shows that recipients of child support grants are more likely to educate their children, whose school attendance is higher than those who do not receive grants, giving further impetus to extend the grants to children aged 18.
The General Household Survey on social grants says one expected outcome of the child grant is that households benefiting from it are more likely to send their children to school, thereby increasing their chances of receiving basic education and becoming economically active in the future.
It is not just child support grants that result in households prioritising education. The percentage of low income households that receive any kind of grant and that are sending all their children to school increased significantly from 73 percent in 2003 to 81 percent in 2007.
The attendance ratio for children aged between five and 19 is also higher in households that receive grants than in those that do not.
Grants assist parents in paying for transport to school, school uniforms and books, and mean that children do not need to work.
Ratula Beukman, an advocacy programme manager at the Black Sash, said yesterday that the organisation supported the extension of the child support grant to age 18 but on the basis that no conditions were attached to it because the survey showed that child support grants without conditions promoted school attendance.
Trevor Manuel, the former finance minister and now the head of the National Planning Commission, said earlier this year that the number of people receiving grants was unsustainable and that the state was considering attaching conditions to the aid, such as school attendance or food purchases.
It has been reported that about 13.3 million people received grants compared with 2.4 million a decade ago. Demand for grants is expected to grow by 11 percent a year in the medium term. Spending on social grants was projected at R80.3 billion in 2009/10, a 60 percent rise on 2005/06. It is expected to hit R95bn in 2011/12.
Despite the concern over the rising cost, government was considering extending child support grants to the age of 18.
Dawie Roodt, the economist at the Efficient Group, said grants had been a tremendous help to the really poor. But he cautioned that this safety net was at a sufficient level for recipients to not be too comfortable. If grants were increased it would discourage people from seeking out alternatives.
South Africa was a poor country and grants had negative economic implications, Roodt said. The budget allocation to grants had been increased dramatically, which had fuelled demand in the economy and in turn had led to inflationary pressures.
"Grants could be increased for the next two to three years but it is not sustainable. State debt levels will turn ugly," Roodt said. The only real alternative to grants was to grow the economy and create jobs.
Beukman said, although it was positive that more people were getting grants, there were still a lot gaps for people aged between 15 and 59, which was particularly concerning in light of the recession.
The Black Sash supports some type of income support for those who need it.
But the likelihood of such support seems doubtful. KwaZulu-Natal premier Zweli Mkhize said yesterday that a basic income grant was "not affordable, it is not something that we are considering implementing as it would bankrupt the government".
His comments followed a looting spree in Durban earlier this week. Ninety people from the SA Unemployed People's Movement were arrested for looting Shoprite Checkers and Pick n Pay outlets.
Additional reporting by Sapa
|
|
