The mental health impact for adolescents ageing out of South Africa’s child support grant
研究发现南非儿童抚养补助金终止导致青少年心理健康下降，相当于CES-D评分0.42个标准差，影响集中在城市和低收入家庭，机制与资源动员有关。
While the benefits of cash transfers are well documented, little attention has been given to the negative effects of their cessation, particularly on mental health. We examined this question using South African longitudinal survey data comprising 7899 unique adolescents tracked as they age out of the Child Support Grant , the country’s largest cash transfer. We find that loss of the Child Support Grant leads to a decline in mental health equivalent to 0.42 of a standard deviation in the CES-D score, robust across model specifications and falsification tests. Increased job search activity points to resource mobilisation as a plausible mechanism, consistent with the Conservation of Resources framework. Effects are concentrated among adolescents in urban areas and households with lower and less diversified income. The results point to a neglected aspect of social protection: how and when cash transfers are withdrawn, particularly when this coincides with critical life stages.