The data on expenditure under the various social protection schemes are drawn up according to the ESSPROS (European System of integrated Social Protection Statistics) Manual issued by Eurostat. Generally, the objectives of ESSPROS are to provide a comprehensive, realistic and coherent description of social protection which: (i) covers social benefits and their financing; (ii) is geared towards international comparability; and (iii) is completely harmonised with other statistics, particularly the National Accounts, in its main concepts. The Family/Children function contains the following benefits: Marriage Grant, Maternity Benefit, Maternity Leave Benefit, Re-marriage Grant, Children's Allowance, Foster Care Allowance and Social Assistance for Single Parents. Spatial ESSPROS data is represented per 1000 population. The data source used to compile the beneficiaries data is the System for the Administration of Social Benefits (SABS) database held by the Department of Social Security. Beneficiaries are grouped according to their ID card number. If a person received a particular benefit more than once in a calendar year, the records show one beneficiary. Beneficiaries obtaining more than one benefit under the same function are counted once. Beneficiaries living abroad are not included in the data.
