A study by academics linked to Stellenbosch University and Erasmus University in Rotterdam has found evidence of a decline in the mental health of adolescents ageing out of South Africa’s child support grant (CSG).
The grant, meant to eradicate widespread child poverty, has been in place since 1998, evolving to become the state’s largest cash transfer.
Academics Tsepang Khumalo, Ronelle Burger, and Marisa von Fintel looked into the loss of this support, zooming in on nearly 8,000 adolescents tracked as they age out of the CSG.
To arrive at their outcomes, the researchers used the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), a screening instrument for depressive symptoms that ranges from 0 to 30.
The results of the study, titled “The mental health impact for adolescents ageing out of South Africa’s child support grant,“ found evidence that the cessation of the CSG increases depressive symptoms in adolescents.
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