School Enrolment and the Child Support Grant: Evidence from South Africa

The extension of the Child Support Grant in South Africa to all children aged 17 or under gives the opportunity to evaluate this type of social transfer and its effect on school enrolment. Using exogenous variation in the fraction of life exposed to the grant, we find the grant is associated with a higher probability of enrolment, especially for older children. Other methods of identification presented provide supporting evidence for these conclusions.Katherine Eyal - Southern Africa Labour & Development Research Unit (SALDRU) Aliate. Doctoral Candidate, University of Cape Town. Lecturer, School of Economics, University of Cape Town, Ingrid Woolard - Co-PI: National Income Dynamics Study. PD Hahn Level 7. Southern Africa Labour & Development Research Unit (SALDRU). Associate Professor, University of Cape Town