Fiscal Policy, Multidimensional Poverty, and Equity in Uganda: A Child-Lens Analysis

Abstract

Fiscal incidence analysis is the most widely used methodology to assess the distributional effects of fiscal policies. However, despite 40 years of use and refinement, it still lacks. A focus on the redistributive capacity of fiscal policy among children is increasingly important as policymakers pay growing attention to the disproportionate incidence of poverty among children globally. This paper brings a child-dedicated focus to fiscal incidence analysis by tracking child-relevant benefits, making child wellbeing the unit of analysis, and using multidimensional child poverty metrics. The analysis—Commitment to Equity for Children, or CEQ4C—integrates three analytical frameworks: public finance, fiscal incidence, and multidimensional child poverty. The paper develops a proof of concept for Uganda that includes measurement, diagnostics, and a policy simulation package replicable across diverse contexts. The proof of concept confirms that CEQ4C provides a higher-resolution fiscal incidence analysis for children than the traditional fiscal incidence analysis.