Cash Transfers In Kenya Research Articles

A fine predicament: Conditioning, compliance and consequences in a labeled cash transfer program

Abstract The Kenya Cash Transfer Programme for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (CT-OVC) presents a valuable opportunity to examine the effects of imposing monetary penalties for noncompliance with conditions in cash transfer programs, in contrast to providing only guidance (or “labeling”) for cash transfer use. We take advantage of random assignment to a conditional arm within the CT-OVC treatment locations to understand the impact of imposing conditions with penalties on program beneficiaries, as well as how this effect varies by household wealth. Program beneficiaries (orphans and vulnerable children) were expected to visit health facilities for immunizations, growth monitoring and nutrition supplements and to enroll in and attend school. We find little difference in program outcomes between households in the conditional treatment arm compared to those in the treatment arm with labeling only (in which information was provided about these expectations but compliance was not monitored). However, among the poorest CT-OVC beneficiaries, assignment to the conditional arm was associated with penalty fines and a significant decrease in non-food consumption. This suggests that in comparison to labeled cash transfers, conditional cash transfers may produce unintended, regressive policy effects for the most vulnerable participants.

Investments in children's health and the Kenyan cash transfer for orphans and vulnerable children: evidence from an unconditional cash transfer scheme.

Child mortality is one of the most pressing global health and policy issues in the developing world. The leading drivers of death-pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria-are preventable and treatable. However, these illnesses are exacerbated by a lack of accessible nutrition, water, basic and preventive health services, and sanitary living conditions-all factors which are more likely to disproportionately impact the poor. We examine whether Kenya's largest social protection impacts children's incidence of upper respiratory illness. The Kenya Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children was designed to support orphans affected by HIV/AIDS and has covered over 240,000 households as of 2014. Using longitudinal, cluster-randomized program data from 2007 to 2009, we run a generalized linear latent and mixed method estimation model on a sample of children 0-7 years and under-5 years of age. We find that the program is associated with a decrease in illness in children 0-7 years of age (P < 0.05), but found no effects on a stratified sample of under-5 children. Furthermore, no impacts on health care seeking in the event of illness were detected. This study is one of few examining children's health using data from a large scale unconditional cash transfer program. With the widespread adoption of over 123 cash transfer programs across sub-Saharan Africa, these findings suggest social cash transfer programs are capable of promoting the multidimensional well-being for the world's most vulnerable populations.

How does a national poverty programme influence sexual debut among Kenyan adolescents?

ABSTRACTCash transfer programmes have recently emerged as promising interventions for HIV prevention among adolescents in Africa. However, the pathways through which risk reduction occurs are not well understood. We examine data on 1429 adolescents and youth from the Kenya Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children, which has been shown to result in delayed sexual debut among adolescents. We explored three potential mediating pathways: schooling, socio-economic status and psycho-social status. None of these hypothesised mediators greatly altered the main effect. However, school attendance had a larger protective effect on sexual debut among females but was only increased by the programme among males. This gendered pattern of effects may explain why we did not see a mediating effect of the cash transfer through schooling, despite schooling's protective effects against early sexual debut. Results also suggest that cash transfer programmes in Africa can contribute to the reduction of HIV related risk behaviours.

Effects of a Large-Scale Unconditional Cash Transfer Program on Mental Health Outcomes of Young People in Kenya

PurposeThis study investigates the causal effect of Kenya's unconditional cash transfer program on mental health outcomes of young people. MethodsSelected locations in Kenya were randomly assigned to receive unconditional cash transfers in the first phase of Kenya's Cash Transfer Program for orphans and Vulnerable Children. In intervention locations, low-income households and those with orphans and vulnerable childrens began receiving monthly cash transfers of $20 in 2007. In 2011, 4 years after program onset, data were collected on the psychosocial status for youth aged 15–24 years from households in intervention and control locations (N = 1960). The primary outcome variable was an indicator of depressive symptoms using the 10-question Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Secondary outcomes include an indicator for hopefulness and physical health measures. Logistic regression models that adjusted for individual and household characteristics were used to determine the effect of the cash transfer program. ResultsThe cash transfer reduced the odds of depressive symptoms by 24 percent among young persons living in households that received cash transfers. Further analysis by gender and age revealed that the effects were only significant for young men and were larger among men aged 20–24 years and orphans. ConclusionsThis study provides evidence that poverty-targeted unconditional cash transfer programs, can improve the mental health of young people in low-income countries.

Impact of the Kenya Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children on early pregnancy and marriage of adolescent girls

There is promising evidence that poverty-targeted cash transfer programs can have positive impacts on adolescent transitions to adulthood in resource poor settings, however existing research is typically from small scale programs in diverse geographic and cultural settings. We provide estimates of the impact of a national unconditional cash transfer program, the Kenya Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children, on pregnancy and early marriage among females aged 12 to 24, four years after program initiation. The evaluation was designed as a clustered randomized controlled trial and ran from 2007 to 2011, capitalizing on the existence of a control group, which was delayed entry to the program due to budget constraints. Findings indicate that, among 1549 females included in the study, while the program reduced the likelihood of pregnancy by five percentage points, there was no significant impact on likelihood of early marriage. Program impacts on pregnancy appear to work through increasing the enrollment of young women in school, financial stability of the household and delayed age at first sex. The Kenyan program is similar in design to most other major national cash transfer programs in Eastern and Southern Africa, suggesting a degree of generalizability of the results reported here. Although the objective of the program is primarily poverty alleviation, it appears to have an important impact on facilitating the successful transition of adolescent girls into adulthood.

Impact of the Kenya Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children on early pregnancy and marriage of adolescent girls

Impact of the Kenya Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children on early pregnancy and marriage of adolescent girls

The government of Kenya cash transfer for orphaned and vulnerable children: cross-sectional comparison of household and individual characteristics of those with and without

BackgroundThe ‘Cash Transfer to Orphans and Vulnerable Children’ (CT-OVC) in Kenya is a government-supported program intended to provide regular and predictable cash transfers (CT) to poor households taking care of OVC. CT programs can be an effective means of alleviating poverty and facilitating the attainment of an adequate standard of living for people’s health and well-being and other international human rights. The objective of this analysis was to compare the household socioeconomic status, school enrolment, nutritional status, and future outlook of orphaned and separated children receiving the CT compared to those not receiving a CT.MethodsThis project analyzes baseline data from a cohort of orphaned and separated children aged <19 years and non-orphaned children living in 300 randomly selected households (HH) in 8 Locations of Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. Baseline data were analyzed using multivariable logistic and Poisson regression comparing children in CT-HH vs. non-CT HH. Odds ratios are adjusted (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for guardian age and sex, child age and sex, and intra-HH correlation.ResultsIncluded in this analysis were data from 1481 children and adolescents in 300 HH (503 participants in CT, 978 in non-CT households). Overall there were 922 (62.3%) single orphans, 324 (21.9%) double orphans, and 210 (14.2%) participants had both parents alive and were living with them. Participants in CT-HH were less likely to have ≥2 pairs of clothes compared to non-CT HH (AOR: 0.32, 95% CI: 0.16-0.63). Those in CT HH were less likely to have missed any days of school in the preceding month (AOR: 0.62, 95% CI: 0.42-0.94) and those aged <1-18 years in CT-HH were less likely to have height stunting for their age (AOR: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.47-0.89). Participants aged at least 10 years in CT-HH were more likely to have a positive future outlook (AOR: 1.72, 95% CI: 1.12-2.65).ConclusionsChildren and adolescents in households receiving the CT-OVC appear to have better nutritional status, school attendance, and optimism about the future, compared to those in households not receiving the CT, in spite of some evidence of continued material deprivation. Consideration should be given to expanding the program further.

The Government of Kenya's Cash Transfer Program Reduces the Risk of Sexual Debut among Young People Age 15-25

The aim of this study is to assess whether the Government of Kenya's Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (Kenya CT-OVC) can reduce the risk of HIV among young people by postponing sexual debut. The program provides an unconditional transfer of US$20 per month directly to the main caregiver in the household. An evaluation of the program was implemented in 2007–2009 in seven districts. Fourteen Locations were randomly assigned to receive the program and fourteen were assigned to a control arm. A sample of households was enrolled in the evaluation in 2007. We revisited these households in 2011 and collected information on sexual activity among individuals between 15–25 years of age. We used logistic regression, adjusted for the respondent's age, sex and relationship to caregiver, the age, sex and schooling of the caregiver and whether or not the household lived in Nairobi at baseline, to compare rates of sexual debut among young people living in program households with those living in control households who had not yet entered the program. Our results, adjusted for these covariates, show that the program reduced the odds of sexual debut by 31 percent. There were no statistically significant effects on secondary outcomes of behavioral risk such as condom use, number of partners and transactional sex. Since the CT-OVC provides cash to the caregiver and not to the child, and there are no explicit conditions associated with receipt, these impacts are indirect, and may have been achieved by keeping young people in school. Our results suggest that large-scale national social cash transfer programs with poverty alleviation objectives may have potential positive spillover benefits in terms of reducing HIV risk among young people in Eastern and Southern Africa.

The Government of Kenya's Cash Transfer Program Reduces the Risk of Sexual Debut among Young People Age 15-25

The Government of Kenya's Cash Transfer Program Reduces the Risk of Sexual Debut among Young People Age 15-25

Editorial: Introducing changes to EDM

March 2013 Welcome to 2013! I am very pleased to be letting you know that this year we plan a number of exciting changes for the journal that will make it both more content rich and more widely available. these will be phased in over the course of the year and we look forward to your feedback. We are going to publish more non-theme issues – up to two a year – allowing for the acceptance of many excellent papers that we receive throughout the year across a range of topics. We continue to encourage authors to submit high-quality research that reflects on the policy, practice, and impact of enterprise development and microfinance programmes. We are also planning to feature more guest editors for themed issues as well as featuring the best papers from upcoming conferences. monique cohen will guest edit our September issue on Financial literacy and we plan to select papers from the CERMi (Centre for European Research into Microfinance) conference for December’s edition. the book reviews section and the Webwatch column will alternate editions and be longer, allowing coverage of more items – the March and September issues will typically include three book reviews while Webwatch will appear in June and December. Crossfire will continue as usual (always a favourite with our readers!), and the editorial will become more topical, less focused on the papers in the journal, and somewhat longer. Finally, we will no longer have callout quotes in the outside borders allowing for wider columns and an increased number of words per page. the way you can access EDM online will be enhanced by a new ‘online first’ publication of papers. this will enable authors and readers to view articles soon after they are accepted for publication and before they are compiled in a quarterly issue – enabling rapid publication of important research. Finally, we are bringing in an online submissions system, which will help authors to upload their articles and the associated information to our submissions website as smoothly and easily as possible. this quarterly issue is a non-themed edition which brings forward some interesting ideas and discussions. Our Crossfire begins with a debate between Paul Rippey and Hari Subhash on CSR. Paul argues that CSR is ‘greenwashing’ while Hari takes the view that corporations can be socially responsible and we must strive for that end. Although I am of the same generation as Paul, and probably more cynical, the idealism of Hari is inspiring, and I recommend a read of this thought-provoking debate. Barca, Hurrell, MacAuslan, Visram, and Willis delve into a review of cash transfers in Kenya. they thankfully do not reopen the debate on whether or not cash transfers are the right way to go, but rather focus on how the choice of payment system affects the costs and barriers faced by those receiving cash as well as the costs and risks of Editorial: Introducing changes to EDM

The impact of Kenya's Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children on human capital

Kenya's Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (CT-OVC) is a national child-protection programme that provides a flat monthly transfer of Ksh 1500 to ultra-poor families with orphans and vulnerable children aged 17 years and younger. A cluster randomised social experiment was conducted in 2007–2009 to evaluate the impact of this programme. We use these data to provide an in-depth analysis of the effects of the programme on children's human capital development. Because basic schooling is free in Kenya and enrolment rates are relatively high, the scope of an unconditional programme such as the CT-OVC may be small. We use data from the evaluation baseline as well as national survey data to make ex-ante predictions about where the programme is most likely to have a big impact. We compare these predictions with actual programme impacts as a way of assessing whether the programme has had the expected impact on children's human capital development given the institutional environment. We find that the programme has had an impact on the margins we would expect, and the size of the impact on secondary school enrolment of this unconditional programme is comparable with those from conditional programmes in other parts of the world. The ex-ante analysis is crucial to understanding where to look to appropriately assess the impact of the programme.

The impact of the Kenya Cash Transfer Program for Orphans and Vulnerable Children on household spending

The Kenya Cash Transfer Program for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (CT-OVC) is the government's flagship social protection programme, reaching over 130,000 households and 260,000 orphans and vulnerable children across the country as of late 2011. The objective of this paper is to investigate whether the CT-OVC has changed the preferences of households in terms of their consumption behaviour. We compare standard difference-in-differences programme effects with ex-ante expected effects given baseline expenditure elasticities. As a result of the programme, participating households had significantly higher expenditures than control households on food, health, and clothing and significantly less spending on alcohol and tobacco. Programme impacts were also seen on spending in four of seven food groups. To test whether the programme simply moves households along their total expenditure Engel curve or in fact shifts that curve, we compare ex-ante expected behaviours with the ex-post actual response of households to the programme. We find in fact that in about one-half of the consumption categories ex-ante predicted and ex-post actual effects are significantly different, implying that preferences may have changed among programme recipients. We then directly test whether the programme has induced significant changes in expenditure elasticities (as implied by their associated marginal propensities to consume) and find evidence of this for alcohol and tobacco, and to a lesser extent for food, health and transportation and communication.