The government offers grants to specific groups, including children. There are three types of grants for children: Child Support, Care Dependency, and Foster Child Grants.
What’s the Means Test?
The means test checks if you’re eligible for grants. It looks at your income and assets to see if you meet the criteria to receive the grant.
What are your “means”?
There are two words used for the money you get regularly to live on.
- The one word is “means” – HOW you pay for the needs of yourself and your family – the means you use for daily living .
- The other word is “income” – the money that COMES IN to the home regularly is your income.
The government only wants to pay grants to the poorest people. People who earn enough money of their own, will not be given a grant. And so the government tests or checks your income (your “means”) to make sure that you really do need a grant.
What’s Assessed in the Means Test
- Income: Your regular earnings, like your salary after taxes, pension, or money from selling goods.
- Combined Income: A husband and wife’s income will be added together for the means test for the Child Support Grant and the Care Dependency Grant. This is called the “joint income”. Maintenance paid by one parent for a child will also count as joint income.
- Required Documents: You’ll need documents like bank statements, pay slips, or affidavits to show your income.
Required Documents
You will be asked to bring any letters or forms you have that show the money you have to live on and show if you own a house. If you are married your husband, or your wife, will have to do the same to show your “joint income”.
These may include the following:
- wage slip or receipt
- UIF card
- Discharge certificate
- Bank statements for 3 months in a row
- Pension or savings accounts book
If you have no letters or documents about your income, you need an AFFIDAVIT:
To make an affidavit, you write a letter explaining what you want to say. When you have written this letter, take it to the Police Station and ask them to sign and stamp it.
You have to say to them that you “swear”, or make a solemn promise, that what you have written is the truth.
The “affidavit” is a legal document and it must be true. If it can be shown that you did not tell the truth, then you can have a case brought against you. (Other people who are registered “Commissioners of Oaths” can also stamp and sign the affidavit. These may be bank managers or lawyers or even school principals, in some cases.)
What to write in the Affidavit?
For the Means Test, you say in your affidavit what your income is (if you have any) and why you need the grant.
- You might want to say that you have never had a job.
- Or you might want to say that you lost your job as a domestic worker and never had a UIF card.
- You might need to say that your husband left you and you do not know where he is working or staying.
- You might write that you do not get money for your child from the father.
Just explain your situation.
Letters and Documents that Prove the Child’s Income:
For the Foster Child Grant and the Care Dependency Grant, if the child has income that belongs to him or her, you need to show where the money comes from and how much it is.
The letters and documents might be one or more of the following:
- A Will showing what the child was left and then letters from the lawyer (Executor) showing the way the inheritance was paid out
- A savings book in the name of the child
- A letter if there is a Trust
- A letter about Insurance money for the child.
Means Test for Child Support Grant
Your income will be checked if you are single. The joint income of husband and wife will be checked if you are married.
If you live in a town (urban) area the means test depends on the type of house you live in.
- Formal dwelling –this is a house with brick or concrete or asbestos blocks – you need to earn less than R9,600 a year (R800 a month)
- Informal dwelling (shack) – you need to earn less than R13,200 a year (R1,100 a month)
If you live in a country area (rural area) then the type of house does not matter.
- You need to earn less than R13,200 a year (R1,100 a month).
Means Test for Foster Child Grant
The foster-parent does not have to pass a means test. But there is a means test for the child:
- The child’s own income must be less than twice the amount of the grant.
- The grant at present is R6360 a year (R530 a month), so the child must not earn more than R12,720 a year (R1,060 a month).
Documents that Prove Child’s Income
If the child has income that belongs to him or her, you need to show where the money comes from and how much it is.
Means Test for Care Dependency Grant
Your income, if you are unmarried, should not be more than R4,000 a month (R48,000 a year) to qualify for the Care Dependency Grant. The joint income, of husband and wife together, must also be below R4,000 a month.
Care-dependent children who have their own income – perhaps from an insurance company if they were disabled in a car accident – also have to qualify under a means test.
- A child will only get the grant if his or her income is less than twice the amount of the grant.
- As the grant is R740 a month (R8 880 a year), the child must have an income less than R1,480 a month (R17 760 a year).
Documents that Prove Child’s Income
If the child has income that belongs to him or her, you need to show where the money comes from and how much it is.