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The Relationship between the Child Support Grant and Teenage Fertility in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 August 2013

Eric O. Udjo
Eric O. Udjo*
Affiliation:
Bureau of Market Research, University of South Africa E-mail: udjoe@unisa.ac.za
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Abstract

Governments often provide some form of social assistance to vulnerable groups. The right to social security is enshrined in the South African Constitution and the Social Assistance Act 13 of 2004. The country provides for a child support grant to single parents or caregivers who are low-income earners. The impact of the child support grant on teenage pregnancy in South Africa has aroused interest in the last couple of years, sparking debate that it may be encouraging teenage pregnancy. However, empirical evidence has been produced to confirm this relationship. This study examines the relationship between receiving the child support grant and being pregnant with another child in two national data sets using logistic regression analysis and empirical data. The results indicate that teenagers who receive the child support grant are significantly less likely to be pregnant with another child compared with teenagers who do not receive the child support grant.

Keywords

Child support grantteenage pregnancyteenage fertilitySouth Africa
Type
Articles
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 13 , Issue 4 , October 2014 , pp. 505 - 519
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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