The Grow Up Free From Poverty Coalition invites you to join in the debate on an increasingly important international issue

2006 marked the 60th anniversary of universal benefits for children in the UK. Yet the idea that family allowances, old age pensions or disability grants can be afforded in developing countries is still contested. Must poor countries wait for economic growth and full employment before even the very poorest people receive their entitlements to social security?

Social Protection in poorer countries, in particular providing cash transfers to extremely poor people, is rising up the agenda of many governments, donors and NGOs. Now is the time to apply the right to social security universally.

What people say about social transfers

People of all ages, including older people, children and disabled people, benefit from cash transfers. They like being trusted to take control of their own lives. They see pensions, child benefits, disability grants and other cash transfers as their right. And whilst many people find that the cash they get is not enough to pay for all their needs, it does have a significant impact on their lives.

Cash transfers enable people to buy food and clothing for themselves and their families. Parents and grandparents use them to pay for children’s school fees, uniforms and school books. But more than just meeting their basic needs, people say that using the money to pay their way and support others helps restore their dignity and sense of self-worth, and relationships and respect between family members improves. Cash transfers enable many people to break out of the isolation in which they live, socialise with others and become an active member of society.

Mr Mdiya, 65 years old, Lamontville Township, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Photo: Leila Amanpour/HelpAge International

Mr Mdiya lives with his two children and five grandchildren. His two children have other children who don’t live with them but whom they support, and the five grandchildren’s parents have died. He has been receiving the pension since January 2006.

"I receive R820 (US$113) a month and I spend the money on bills - water, electricity, rates - and food for the children. I also pay for transport for other members of my family to come to the city [Durban] and visit. And I pay for funeral arrangements for family members who have passed away. I also pay for my grandchildren’s school fees, school uniforms and fill their lunch boxes because their parents have passed away. My 15 yearold granddaughter suffers from asthma, so after each attack she has to go to hospital to be treated - I pay for this too.

"The pension needs to be double the amount to live more comfortably. However, if I didn’t receive the pension I wouldn’t be able to afford any of the things I have already mentioned, and I think I would die from depression."

Habiba Abdi, Iresaboru, Kenya

Habiba thought carefully about how to spend the cash she received as part of a livelihoods programme run by Save the Children and decided to wait for the markets to stabilise before spending her money.

"I am planning to purchase 15 goats and 10 sheep, but I am waiting for the price to stabilise before I spend my money."

Sandisiwe Mkhize, 8 years old, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

Sandisiwe’s mother receives the child support grant but Sandisiwe is worried about what will happen when she is too old to get it.

"I am an 8 year old little girl growing up in a home that is poor. My grandmother earns R400 per month doing domestic work. My mother relies on the state grant for my uniform and fees even though it is not enough to meet all the requirements, it helps. I wish for the government to support us till we are 18 so that we can finish school."

Trevor A Manuel, Minister of Finance, South Africa

Trevor Manuel acknowledged the impact cash transfers have in his 2007 budget speech.

"One of the clearest ways in which we are able to act against poverty is through our system of social grants… Grants are associated with a greater share of household expenditure on food and hence improved nutrition, and the child support grant contributes measurably to the health status of young children. Statistics SA data shows that the proportion of households where children often or always went hungry decreased from 6,7 percent in 2002 to 4,7 percent in 2005. This means that we can say to many more children, hunger is no longer knocking on the door."

Ngoma Africa, Headmaster, Mabuyu School, Zambia

Commenting on the impact on pupils in homes receiving cash transfers, the headmaster of this school in Zambia saw a marked improvement in their attendance.

"This scheme has really helped most of the children from the beneficiaries’ homes in the sense that other children had a tendency of not coming to school because of hunger from their family but now we have seen a change in those children because they always come to school."

Mr Walumba, Provincial Welfare Officer, Zambia

"You will see that the majority of expenditure is mainly either on consumption [or] most importantly education, but this leads to investment."