Check the Child Support Grant
R580 per child · caregiver income means test
This is an independent estimate based on published SASSA rules and does not guarantee approval. Always confirm and apply through official SASSA channels.
See whether you pass the caregiver means test and what your total monthly Child Support Grant would be at R580 per child.
R580 per child · caregiver income means test
This is an independent estimate based on published SASSA rules and does not guarantee approval. Always confirm and apply through official SASSA channels.
The grant is paid for each qualifying child, so three children means 3 × R580 = R1,680 per month.
A single caregiver must earn under R5,800/month; a married couple under R11,600 combined. The child's own means are not tested.
You must be the person mainly responsible for the child — not necessarily the biological parent.
The Child Support Grant is the most widely claimed grant in South Africa, reaching more children than any other form of social assistance. It exists to help the person who actually looks after a child cover part of the everyday cost of raising them — food, school clothes, transport and other basics. It is paid at R580 per child per month and is claimed by the child's primary caregiver, not necessarily by the biological parent.
That last point trips up a lot of families, so it is worth stating plainly at the start: you do not have to be the mother or father to receive the grant. A grandmother raising her grandchildren, an aunt looking after a sibling's child, or an older brother caring for a younger one can all be the primary caregiver in the eyes of SASSA. What matters is who does the day-to-day caring, not the biological relationship.
Use the calculator above to check whether your income falls under the caregiver limit and to estimate how much you could receive across all the children in your care. This page explains everything sitting behind that estimate so you can apply with confidence.
A primary caregiver is the person who takes main responsibility for meeting a child's daily needs. SASSA looks at who the child lives with, who feeds and clothes them, who takes them to the clinic and who makes the decisions a parent would normally make. The grant follows the care, not the birth certificate.
There are a few guardrails to stop the grant being misused:
If you are unsure whether your situation qualifies, our guide on who qualifies for SASSA grants walks through the caregiver definition with more examples.
The Child Support Grant has an income means test but no asset test. In other words, SASSA looks at what you earn, not what you own — your home, furniture and modest savings are not counted against you.
The income limits are:
| Marital status | Monthly income limit | Yearly equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Single caregiver | R5,800 | R67,200 |
| Married caregiver (combined) | R11,600 | R134,400 |
If you are single, only your own income is tested against R5,800 a month. If you are married, your income and your spouse's income are added together and tested against R11,600 a month. The limits are deliberately generous compared with other grants, because the Child Support Grant is designed for working caregivers on low-to-modest wages, not only for people with no income at all.
Income means money you actually receive: wages, salary, regular maintenance payments, profit from a small business, and other grants you personally receive. A one-off gift or an irregular bit of help from a relative is not treated the same way as a steady wage. If your earnings sit close to the limit, it is worth checking the exact figure with the means test calculator before you apply, because a borderline case can go either way depending on how your income is counted.
Our detailed means test explainer breaks down exactly what SASSA includes and excludes when it adds up your income.
The grant is R580 per child, per month. Crucially, it is paid per qualifying child, so a caregiver looking after several children receives a separate R580 for each one.
| Children in your care | Monthly total |
|---|---|
| 1 child | R580 |
| 2 children | R1,120 |
| 3 children | R1,680 |
| 4 children | R2,240 |
| 5 children | R2,800 |
The same single income limit of R5,800 applies to you as the caregiver no matter how many children you claim for — the number of children changes the payout, not the income test. This is why a single unemployed mother of three can receive R1,680 a month from Child Support alone.
For a full picture of how R580 sits alongside the other grants, see our 2026 grant amounts guide.
Getting your paperwork right before you go to the office saves a wasted trip. The core documents are:
If a parent has died, bring the death certificate. If you are caring for a child who is not yours, SASSA may ask for extra proof that you are the genuine caregiver. Our full documents for a SASSA grant checklist lists every acceptable item so you can gather them in advance.
The Child Support Grant is applied for in person at a SASSA local office, not online. Unlike the SRD R370 grant, there is no web application for Child Support, because SASSA needs to see the child's documents and confirm the care arrangement.
Applications are usually processed within a few weeks. If approved, payment is backdated to the date you applied, so apply as soon as you qualify rather than waiting. Our apply for the Child Support Grant guide covers the process in full, and apply online vs in person explains why this grant is office-only.
One of the most useful features of the Child Support Grant is that it stacks with other support. Because it is a child grant paid to the caregiver — not a personal grant paid for the caregiver's own needs — it does not clash with the one-grant-per-person rule that applies to Old Age, Disability and War Veterans grants.
A very common combination is Child Support together with the SRD R370 grant. The SRD grant supports you, the unemployed adult, while Child Support supports the children. An unemployed single mother of two can, in principle, receive:
That comes to R1,490 a month. The one thing to watch is that SRD is tested on money entering your bank account against a low R624 threshold. If you draw the Child Support money into the same account in a way that pushes your deposits over R624, you can lose SRD for that month. Our srd vs child support guide explains how to keep both grants safe, and you can test your own numbers with the SRD R370 status calculator.
A grandmother on the Old Age Grant can still receive Child Support for grandchildren in her care — the Old Age Grant is her personal grant, and Child Support is for the children. See can you get multiple grants for the full combining rules, and use the child support calculator alongside the old age grant calculator if your household mixes both.
Nomsa is single, unemployed, and cares for her two young children. Her income is R0, well under the R5,800 limit, so she qualifies. She receives R580 per child, or R1,120 a month. Because she is also unemployed with almost nothing entering her account, she can apply separately for the SRD R370 grant for herself.
Thabo earns R5,200 a month at a warehouse and is the single father of one child. R5,200 is under the R5,800 single limit, so he qualifies and receives R580 a month. If he later takes on overtime that lifts his regular income above R5,800, he would fall outside the limit and the grant could stop, so he should report the change honestly.
Sipho and Lerato are married with a combined income of R10,400 a month. As a married couple their income is tested against the R11,600 combined limit, which they are under, so they qualify. With three children they receive R580 x 3 = R1,680 a month. Had their combined income been R12,000, they would have been over the line and would not qualify.
Gogo Miriam, aged 68, receives the Old Age Grant and cares for two orphaned grandchildren. The Old Age Grant is her own personal grant; the Child Support Grants are for the children. She receives her Old Age Grant plus R580 x 2 = R1,120 for the grandchildren. She simply needs to prove she is their primary caregiver.
Even valid applicants sometimes get declined because of avoidable errors. The most frequent are:
Tip: apply the moment you qualify. Payment is backdated to your application date, so an early application means you do not lose money while your paperwork is processed.
Approval is not the end of the story. To keep the Child Support Grant paying month after month:
If your circumstances change — you find a better-paid job, marry, or care shifts to someone else — tell SASSA rather than waiting for a problem to surface. Honest, current information is the best protection against a break in payment.
If you run into trouble, you can call the SASSA toll-free line on 0800 60 10 11 or visit your nearest SASSA local office. For contact options and office-finding tips, see our SASSA contact details guide.
This is an independent helper site and is not affiliated with SASSA or the government. Always confirm your eligibility and the current grant figures at SASSA or on 0800 60 10 11 before you apply.