Tessa Hochfeld

It buys food but does it change gender relations? Child Support Grants in Soweto, South Africa

A gender lens was applied in an empirical study to assess the dynamics and policy implications of one of South Africas largest social protection programmes, the Child Support Grant (CSG). The findings are based on a household survey conducted in an urban community in Soweto, South Africa. They suggest that the grant supports womens ability to control and allocate resources, and that this has a positive impact on household food security. While the CSG eases womens burden of care and responsibility for household and child survival, women remain largely responsible for caring and looking after families. This prevails despite increased opportunities for women in society and some small shifts in gender relations in urban areas. Social protection policies such as the CSG do not on their own transform gender relations. To ensure that they contribute to gender transformation, they need to work in concert with other public policies that are specifically designed to support changes toward gender equality.

Developmental social work in South Africa: Translating policy into practice

Developmental social work is receiving increasing international recognition and much may be learnt from its application in different societal contexts. The article draws on empirical data from a South African study and provides valuable insight into how social workers conceptualize and translate developmental social work into practice.

Gender and child sensitive social protection in South Africa

Drawing from a 2010 study of women receiving the Child Support Grant in an urban area of South Africa, this article discusses the link between social protection, womens empowerment and the well-being of children. It appears that the Grant enhances womens power and control over household decision-making in financial matters, general household spending and child well-being. At the same time, the data show that women continue to bear the greatest burden of care in the household and that these responsibilities significantly heighten gender inequalities. Therefore, while the Grant has benefits for child well-being and womens empowerment, it cannot on its own transform unequal and unjust social relations of power. It should be working in concert with other public programmes not only to focus on childrens needs but also to strive for gender equality for poor women.

Participation, values, and implementation: three research challenges in developing gender-sensitive indicators

This article critically1 reviews three key research challenges that emerged as a result of developing gender-sensitive indicators for an NGO in South Africa. The first challenge faced was finding an appropriate balance between an ‘expert-led’ and an inclusive participatory research process. The second challenge was identifying a set of criteria, based on explicit research values, to guide indicator development. Third, we were confronted with the task of ensuring that the indicators developed could be implemented in the context of a resource-poor, service-driven NGO setting. A discussion of the challenges faced exposes the complex and sometimes murky process of developing indicators that are relevant, appropriate, and usable.