Deputy Speaker, the response to the question asked by hon Y R Botha is as follows. Indeed, hon Deputy Speaker, there is a large body of empirical evidence that confirms both the developmental and poverty-reducing effects of child support grants. Various studies have found that children who receive this kind of grant are significantly more likely to be enrolled in schools in the years following receipt of the grant than equally poor children of the same age.
To evaluate grant types and their causal role in helping children to get to school, other studies have compared the outcomes of children receiving the grant with those of their siblings who were too old to benefit from this grant. In this regard it was found that siblings of grant recipients, when they are actually compared to the younger children, were less likely to be enrolled in schools.
It was also found that a household in receipt of a child support grant is associated with a reduction of approximately 22% to 25% in school nonattendance. Thus, the grant appears to have a positive impact on school enrolment and attendance.
Studies also indicated, hon Deputy Speaker, that many children stop attending school when they reach the cut-off age of grant eligibility. Even though school enrolment and attendance is high at the lower levels of education, many learners are unable to complete secondary schooling. The most common reason for this nonattendance is that there is no money for school fees. Therefore, the extension of the child support grant will indeed increase the chances of older children to enrol, attend and, indeed, complete their secondary schooling.
Empirical research indicated a 20% reduction in household poverty where there is a child in receipt of a child support grant. By extending the eligibility age to 18 years, that reduction will be 21,4%.
Studies also indicated that social grants are effective in addressing hunger as well as basic needs in general. In a household that receives social grants, spending focuses more on basics such as food, fuel, housing and household operation for the purpose of getting children studying and in school. Less is spent on tobacco and debt servicing than in households that do not receive grants.
Therefore, it is assumed that the further extension of the child support grant would continue to strengthen families by providing households with more resources to improve their wellbeing. Poverty and its consequences erode the opportunities for children and youth to attend school, creating a vicious cycle of destitution and undermining the household's capacity to accumulate the human capital that is so needed.
Hon Deputy Speaker, empirical evidence also indicates that social grants given to those children in South Africa are developmental in nature. Children from households that are receiving grants are more likely to attend school and the extension of child support grants will undoubtedly enable these children to complete their education. The better educated our labour force, the more competitive they would be in the labour market, and higher productivity will mean higher wages and salaries. The progressive extensions of the child support grant hold the potential to diminish intergenerational poverty in our country. Thank you. [Applause.]