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To date, the South
African government has advocated for the Foster Child Grant – currently
R530 per month – to perform a central role in addressing the
poverty-related needs of orphans in the context of the AIDS pandemic.
Other poor children under the age of 14 will be eligible by 2006 for a
Child Support Grant (CSG) of significantly less – currently R170 per
month.
To critically engage with this approach to
social security for children, the HIV/AIDS Programme conducted research in
collaboration with the Centre for Actuarial Research at the University of
Cape Town. Drawing on a combination of primary research, demographic
projections and costing a range of different social security scenarios,
the resulted working paper argues that, for a variety of reasons, this is
an inappropriate approach to social security interventions for children in
the face of the AIDS pandemic.
The working paper, Children ‘in need of
care’ or in need of cash? Questioning social security provisions for
children in the context of the South African AIDS pandemic, suggests
that the most equitable, accessible and appropriate mechanism for
supporting children in the context of AIDS would be through the extension
of the CSG to all children. It also calls for the means test, which
restricts children’s access to the CSG, to be removed. In the alternative,
or as a step in progressive implementation, the CSG should be extended to
children up to the age of 18, with the means test adjusted to benefit
greater numbers of impoverished children than currently. The authors argue
that it is only through the implementation of such social assistance that
the country’s children will begin to be appropriately and equitably
supported through the AIDS pandemic.
The working paper further motivates against
the provision of grants for orphans as a category of children distinct
from other children made vulnerable by AIDS, and in particular argues
against the continued use of the foster care system to deal with the
poverty-related needs of orphans. It argues that, given the pervasiveness
of poverty among children in South Africa, a social security system that
directs interventions on the basis of children’s orphanhood, mistargets
crucial resources; is inequitable and is located in questionable
assumptions about children’s circumstances. Furthermore, such an approach
to social security risks further overburdening the child protection system
and is not, as a whole, a cost-efficient way of adequately supporting the
largest possible number of poor children who need assistance.
To order a printed copy of the working paper,
contact Anthea Arendse or
click here
to
view it electronically. |
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