Which eligible households get grants? Demographic correlates of receipt in South Africa

Figures & data

Table 1. Rates of grant receipt in sample and grant eligibility criteria.

	Grant receipt in sample		Grant eligibility criteria
	Total eligible, N	Total receiving, N (%)	Age eligibility	Single maximum annual earnings	Married maximum combined annual earnings	Additional requirements/notes	Value of monthly payment
Old Age Grant	839	686 (81.7)	Age 60+	R44 880	R89 760	–	R1 140 (age 60 to 74); R1 160 (age 75 and up)
Child Support Grant	6 266	4 311 (64.9)	Age 0 to 18	R31 200	R62 400	May be received on behalf of up to six children per caregiver	R260

Note: Because a child may receive only one grant at any given time, the total eligible for child grants accounts for children receiving a grant and is thus ineligible for any other grant.

Table 2. Sample characteristics.

Characteristic	N (%)^a	Mean (standard deviation)
Household characteristics
Household structure
Household head female	768 (39.2)
Proportion of female adults		0.30 (0.16)
Proportion of married adults		0.21 (0.31)
Average household age		24.12 (5.88)
Total household size		7.00 (3.1)
Dependency ratio		0.47 (0.15)
Proportion of highly-resident adults		0.94 (0.11)
Total children in the household		3.33 (1.77)
Mother absent	555 (28.3)
Economic characteristics
Household education level (average attainment of members)^b		4.55 (1.04)
Asset index (in quintiles)		3.00 (1.42)
Proportion employed adults		0.38 (0.28)
Household income (Rand/month)		14.52 (18.48)
Health
HIV-affected household	496 (25.3)
Proportion of deaths in household		0.30 (0.16)
Proportion of ill household members		0.18 (0.18)
Grant barriers^c
Any grant application problems	502 (25.6)
Any grant access problems	365 (18.6)
Community characteristics
In urban community	938 (47.8)
In high matriculation Community	963 (49.1)

^aPercentages calculated out of 1961 households in the sample.

^bAverage household education ranges from 0 = ‘no formal education’ to 5 = ‘Matriculation’: 4.5 is equivalent to ‘completed some secondary school’.

^cIndicates whether any barriers were experienced by the household as a whole.

Table 3. Household and community predictors of grant receipt.

	Either grant			Old Age Grant			Child Support Grant
	b	SE	β	b	SE	β	b	SE	β
Household structure
Household head female	−0.003	0.009	−0.009	0.097**	0.035	0.157	−0.030	0.020	−0.041
Proportion of female adults	−0.021	0.027	−0.018	0.103	0.087	0.053	0.245**	0.063	0.112
Proportion of married adults	−0.077**	0.018	−0.122	−0.046	0.065	−0.038	−0.199**	0.034	−0.176
Average household age	−0.001	0.001	−0.036	−0.004	0.003	−0.080	−0.002	0.002	−0.026
Total household size	−0.0003	0.001	−0.004	0.0001	0.004	0.001	0.001	0.003	0.007
Dependency ratio	0.572**	0.033	0.440	0.015	0.128	0.008	0.257**	0.069	0.110
Proportion of highly-resident adults	0.052	0.032	0.030	−0.105	0.090	−0.044	0.083	0.072	0.027
Economic characteristics
Average household education	−0.023**	0.005	−0.121	−0.027	0.017	−0.088	−0.026**	0.010	−0.077
HIV-affected household	−0.0002	0.009	−0.0009	−0.018	0.031	−0.028	0.007	0.020	0.009
Asset index (in quintiles)	−0.012**	0.003	−0.088	0.019*	0.009	0.089	−0.025**	0.007	−0.101
Proportion of employed adults	−0.053**	0.016	−0.076	−0.129*	0.055	−0.106	−0.003	0.031	−0.002
Health
Proportion of deaths in household	−0.113^†	0.062	−0.040	0.086	0.164	0.018	−0.221^†	0.125	−0.044
Proportion of ill household members	0.073**	0.026	0.066	0.118^†	0.066	0.072	0.152**	0.055	0.077
Grant barriers
Any grant application problems	0.019*	0.009	0.043	−0.066*	0.027	−0.105	0.044*	0.018	0.054
Any grant access problems	−0.010	0.010	−0.021	0.039	0.030	0.055	−0.042*	0.021	−0.046
Community characteristics
Urban community	−0.031**	0.008	−0.079	−0.020	0.024	−0.034	−0.068**	0.016	−0.096
High matriculation community	−0.007	0.007	−0.018	−0.032	0.022	−0.057	−0.014	0.015	−0.020
R^2	0.326			0.074			0.092

Notes: b = unstandardized regression coefficient; β = standardised regression coefficient; SE = standard error.

^†p < 0.10. *p < 0.05. **p < 0.01.

Table A1. Reported barriers to social grant receipt.

	N (%)
Difficulties in applying for a social grant
None	1 455 (74.2)
Administrative problems	98 (5.0)
Misinformed about necessary documentation	97 (4.9)
Application process too complicated or time consuming	119 (6.1)
Staff disrespectful and unsympathetic	119 (6.1)
Opening times not convenient	8 (0.4)
Long queues	271 (13.8)
Staff try to get bribes	50 (2.5)
Other	7 (0.4)
Difficulties accessing a social grant
None	1 596 (81.3)
Lack of documentation	104 (5.3)
Shortage of money for transport	207 (10.6)
Applicant too sick/disabled to apply	12 (0.6)
Cost of getting grant too high	7 (0.4)
Stigma/embarrassment	12 (0.6)
Too difficult to get to office	7 (0.4)
Involves too much time away from work or home	68 (3.5)
Other	1 (0.1)

Note: The primary household respondent was asked whether any member of the household had experienced any of these difficulties. Percentages are calculated out of 1961 households in the sample.