Cost of meeting a child's nutritional needs exceeds R560 grant

The cost of meeting a child's nutritional needs ranges between R826 and R1,085 a month, depending on their age, according to the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group (PEJDG).

This is significantly more than the Child Support Grant, currently valued at R560 a month. More than 13-million children receive this grant. Children are eligible for the grant if their caregiver earns less than R5,600 a month. The official food poverty line is R796 per person per month.

Child hunger is a growing issue in South Africa. According to one estimate, food insecurity affects over 60% of households in the country, and about a quarter of children in South Africa are stunted due to malnutrition. A parliamentary question revealed last year that about 1,450 children under the age of five died of acute malnutrition in 2023.

A report commissioned by the National Department of Social Development in 2023 recommended increasing the grant to R945 to halve child poverty and R1,417 to eliminate child poverty.

A silver lining is that the prices of foods included in PEJDG's calculation have stayed stable over the past year, even deflating slightly, while the Child Support Grant has increased by R30.

Chart produced by The Outlier in partnership with GroundUp.