This paper provides an empirical analysis of the impact of the Child Support Grant (CSG) implemented in South Africa on the labor supply of the parents of beneficiary children. Our aim is to assess, by evaluating potential heterogeneity of the effects by gender, whether and to what extent the program improved or lessened gender inequality in the labor market. We use data from a national panel survey, the National Income Dynamics Study, and apply a fuzzy regression discontinuity design that exploits an expansion in eligibility due to a discontinuous change in the age eligibility criterion. The results show that the CSG had a negative effect on the probability of parents of beneficiary children being employed and mixed effects on
the participation in the labor force, with substantial heterogeneity by gender and by other individual and household characteristics. Overall, the evaluation suggests that the program provided support to the members of vulnerable household in coping with the constraints of the South African labor market, but it did not serve to reshape existing gender inequalities.