Regional or local authorities may also provide supplementary programmes on top of those which are nationally co-ordinated (e.g., General Assistance in US States, see Gallagher et a I., 1999). Also, benefit offices and caseworkers sometimes have considerable room for discretion (e.g., by awarding support in special circumstances). For understanding the changing role of SA in government redistribution, it would therefore be particularly important to gauge benefit-claiming behaviour and patterns.