Impact that social grants have on teen mothers
Answers
Several studies have drawn attention to the negative socio-economic, demographic, health, biological
and psychological consequences of teenage pregnancy. The demographic and health consequences
include high levels of maternal and child mortality, toxaemia, increased number of stillbirths and
premature and low-birth-weight infants due to underlying biological risk inherent in young maternal
age. Prolonged labour, iron deficiency and defective infants have also been cited as health
consequences of teenage pregnancy. However, some researchers argue that pregnant teens do not
constitute a high-risk group if good prenatal care is provided.
Some of the negative social consequences of teenage pregnancy that have been noted by several
studies include lower educational attainment, as the teenage mother often discontinue her education,
increased parity, as the teenage mother has another child quickly, higher divorce rate, as teenage
marriages break up faster than other marriages, especially if the bride was pregnant at the time of
marriage, lower income, increased poverty and dependency.
As part of its poverty alleviation programme, the South African Government offers child support grant to
non-income and low-income earners who are single parents. The current value of the child support
grant is R260 per month (approximately, US$ 38 per month) and the age limit of children for whom
parents can receive the child support grant is 17 years. The impact of the child support grant on fertility
in South Africa has aroused interest in the last couple of years and sparked debate about the unintended
consequence of the child support grant: increase in teenage fertility due to the child support grant.
Despite this debate, no empirical evidence has been produced to establish that the child support grant
increases teenage fertility in South Africa.