The impact of cash transfers on Syrian refugee children in Lebanon

Abstract

• Syrian refugee children in Lebanon are transitioning from non-formal to formal schooling following receipt of cash transfers. • Children are less likely to engage in child labor among households receiving cash transfers. • Children exhibit improved health outcomes and usage because of receipt of cash transfers. • Receipt of cash transfers lowers girls’ aged 15–19 years likelihood of early marriage. This paper evaluates the impact of multi-purpose cash assistance on Syrian refugee children living in Lebanon. Using a sharp multidimensional regression discontinuity design, we estimate the program impact of varying cash assistance durations measured over two waves of household survey data collected in 2019. The novel research design enables us to make pairwise comparisons between children from discontinued recipient households (received cash for 12 months then got discontinued in the next cash cycle), short-run cash recipient households (up to 10 months), long-term recipient households (between 16 and 22 months) and non-beneficiary eligible households. Results show that children of any MPC recipient group are transitioning from non-formal to formal schooling while also shifting away from child labor. Cash transfers improve health outcomes for pre-primary and school-aged children and reduce the likelihood of early marriage for girls aged 15–19 years.