Role Of Cash Transfers Research Articles

The Role of Cash Transfers in Community Development in Soweto South Africa

The Role of Cash Transfers in Community Development in Soweto South Africa

Economic interventions for the prevention of mental health problems: The role of cash transfers.

There is a strong, bidirectional association between social disadvantage and poor mental health. The risk of experiencing mental health problems is particularly enhanced by factors associated with living in poverty. Thus, economic interventions may be effective in reducing the burden of mental health issues in these populations. This article explores the evidence based on one specific type of economic intervention on mental health, that is, supplementing household income through cash transfers. This narrative evidence is supplemented by an in-depth analysis of one of the world's largest national cash transfer programs, the Bolsa Família program, in Brazil. We report that evidence from multiple contexts clearly demonstrates that cash transfers are highly effective in reducing the burden of mental health issues and reducing mental health disparities. We then consider the specific mechanisms through which cash transfers influence mental health. Finally, we discuss the need for these interventions and, referring to the Brazilian case study, explore potential strategies for their implementation at scale and the implications for research and policy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Addressing food insecurity in Richmond area of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: The role of cash transfers

Food insecurity is one of the national priorities in South Africa. Cash transfer programs are hypothesized to alleviate short-term deprivations, regularize consumption, and reduce the adoption of negative coping strategies. This study estimates the role play of cash transfers in enhancing food security in South Africa. The household food security access scale (HFIAS) was used to estimate food security status of 180 sampled households. An endogenous switching poisson model was used to examine how household food insecurity was affected by access to cash transfers. The findings indicate that the household food security was statistically significantly influenced by access to cash transfers, household head gender, access to finance, access to farm-based organizations (FBO), access to cooperatives, and agricultural training. As a result, this study recommends the South African government and other donor organizations to expand cash transfer programs among low-income households in rural South Africa. Access to cash transfers is a key component of achieving enhanced household food security.

Effects of environmental regulation on rural livelihood diversification: Evidence from pastoral China

Previous studies on rural livelihood diversification primarily focused on its determinants and the role of cash transfers. However, little attention has been paid to the effects of environmental regulation schemes on rural livelihood diversification. This study ascertains the impact of China's Grassland Ecological Compensation Policy (GECP) on the income-generating activities and livelihood diversification of its rural recipients. We use a unique national representative survey of 722 herder households in pastoral China. A seemingly unrelated Tobit model is estimated to simultaneously account for the censored nature of the livelihood diversification of recipients and the correlation of error terms of the different livelihood activities. A latent class cluster analysis is performed to split samples into four clusters according to the characteristics of their livelihood strategies. We find a U-shaped relationship between livelihood diversification and GECP subsidies, such that the livelihood diversification index (excluding cash transfers) decreases or increases when the GECP subsidy is below or above 89,500 yuan, respectively. The present compensation levels are far below the turning point, implying that the scheme fails to achieve its objective of diversifying herders' livelihoods into off-farm sectors. Further, the herders' livelihood diversification index increased when cash transfers were included but decreased when they were excluded, reflecting the vulnerability of herders' livelihoods and their strong reliance on the compensation. Finally, the sub-group analysis reveals that cash transfers only influence the livelihood diversification of full-time, but not part-time, pastoralist households.

Role of cash transfers in mitigating food insecurity in India during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study in the Bihar state

ObjectiveThere are scant empirical data on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on food security across the globe. India is no exception, with insights into the impacts of lockdown on...

Does 'Manna from Heaven' help? The role of cash transfers in disaster recovery-lessons from Fiji after Tropical Cyclone Winston.

This paper contributes to the evidence on the effectiveness of shock-responsive social protection systems in helping affected households recover from the negative consequences of disasters. It evaluates the influence of the top-up cash transfers provided by the Government of Fiji to poor households in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Winston, which struck the Pacific Island country on 20 February 2016. The impact evaluation strategy incorporates a sharp regression discontinuity design to define treatment and control groups, based on the eligibility threshold of the poverty benefit scheme. The results indicate that treatment households-that is, those that received cash transfers-are significantly more likely to report quicker recovery from various shocks. Female-headed households are more likely to recover from the ramifications, whereas households with older heads are less likely to do so. The presence of a functioning market appears to be a major factor aiding the speed of recovery. Finally, the evidence points towards strong district effects on recovery.

Addressing Food Insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Cash Transfers

Food insecurity, a complex and multi-faceted phenomenon, is currently one of the inter-national community’s main priorities, especially in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). As food insecurity in this region is most widespread in pockets of extreme poverty, particularly in rural areas, traditional agricultural or general economic interventions alone are unlikely to generate substantial improvements. Instead, there is ample scope for social protection schemes. This paper investigates the role played by rapidly expanding cash transfers (CTs) in enhancing food security. First, it offers an innovative conceptual framework for explaining the channels through which CT programmes can affect the various aspects of food security. It also illustrates how specific design features of CT programmes may generate effects through little known pathways, such as women’s empowerment and improved intra-household decision-making. Second, based on this conceptual framework, the paper provides a systematic review of evidence of the effects of CT programmes on different aspects of food security in middle-income and low-income countries in SSA. A rigorous overview based on a comprehensive conceptual framework is missing from the literature, as most of the overview papers published to date have concentrated on the specific effects of CT programmes on monetary poverty, human capital accumulation or food expenditure. The paper shows that CTs offer great potential for enhancing households’ access to food, as long as they take full account of: the targeting of beneficiaries; the regularity of payments; the size of monetary transfers; the need to amass political support. In order to enhance all the different aspects of food security in the medium to long-term, CTs should be integrated with other interventions such as public works programmes, nutritional education, nutritional supplements for vulnerable groups, and economic policies. This is the main rationale behind the planned new phase of the Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) in Ethiopia.

Cash transfers and the social determinants of health: Towards an initial realist program theory

Cash transfers are a widely adopted social policy initiative for addressing poverty and vulnerability. Cash transfers’ exponential growth in low- and middle-income countries provides a unique opportunity to advance our understanding of how they work to impact the social determinants of health. This article reports on a realist qualitative approach to developing an initial program theory about the role of cash transfers in tackling the social determinants of health. A set of 12 initial hypotheses regarding how cash transfers might work to address the social determinants of health were developed from the data. Cash transfer key mechanisms of change found in the study included political will and leadership and news media framing at the macro level, collaboration and intersectoral working at the meso level, and household motivation, empowerment, choice making, awareness raising and risk-taking behaviour at the micro level. This study has developed initial hypotheses that can be tested and refined in future studies using a realist approach.

Addressing Food Insecurity in Sub‐Saharan Africa: The Role of Cash Transfers

Food insecurity is one of the international community's priorities in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA). This article investigates the role played by cash transfers (CTs), the social protection scheme with the largest coverage, in enhancing food security in this region. First, it offers an innovative conceptual framework for explaining the channels through which CT programs can affect food security. Second, based on this conceptual framework, it provides a comprehensive review of evidence of the effects of CTs on different components/indicators of food security in low‐income countries in SSA. The article shows that CTs offer great potential for reducing monetary poverty and enhancing households’ access to food, as long as they take full account of important aspects related to their design and implementation. On the other hand, CTs alone cannot influence nutrition knowledge and practice, and are proved to have limited or no effects on food security outcomes, such as diet diversification or child anthropometrics. In order to enhance all the different aspects of food security in the medium to long term, CTs should be integrated with other, social and economic, interventions.

Accessing the ‘Right’ Kinds of Material and Symbolic Capital: the Role of Cash Transfers in Reducing Adolescent School Absence and Risky Behaviour in South Africa

This article investigates how well South Africa’s Child Support Grant (CSG) responds to the material and psychosocial needs of adolescents, and the resultant effects on schooling and risky behaviour. One driver of schooling decisions is shame related to poverty and the ‘social cost’ of school, where a premium must often be paid for fashionable clothes or accessories. The other driver relates to symbolic and consumptive capital gained through engaging in sexual exchange relationships. The anticipated impacts from the CSG are partial because of these non-material drivers of adolescent choices. Non-material transmission mechanisms must be better understood and addressed.

The Reform of Energy Subsidies in Iran: The Role of Cash Transfers

ABSTRACTWe study Iran’s energy subsidy reform program of 2010 and argue that the key to its success was a cash transfer intended to compensate households for price increases. We use survey data from the first three months of the program, before other economic shocks confounded the picture, to study the program’s effect on the incomes and expenditures of households. We find that rural families that had less access to banks actually participated in greater numbers; that the poorest and richest income deciles participated least; and that, at least in its early phase, the program’s net effect was pro-poor. We argue this last fact explains the program’s smooth start.

The role of cash transfers in maximising schools’ protective effects for children in extreme settings: An ecological approach

Given growing attention to inequities and hardest-to-reach children, there is increasing interest in how to support children in extreme settings, including through schooling. We focus on cash transfer programmes – poverty reduction initiatives aimed at human capital development – and adopt an ecological focus, considering children in informal and formal settings in households, schools, communities and broader polities. Using qualitative methodologies we explore how cash transfer programmes can facilitate schooling in Kenya, Palestine and Peru. We argue it is critical to consider both demand and supply side challenges and entry-points. We conclude that involving communities in programme design, monitoring and evaluation is essential to promote greater transparency and accountability, and ultimately child wellbeing outcomes.

The promise and limitations of cash transfer programs for HIV prevention

As the search for more effective HIV prevention strategies continues, increased attention is being paid to the potential role of cash transfers in prevention programming in sub-Saharan Africa. To date, studies testing the impact of both conditional and unconditional cash transfers on HIV-related behaviours and outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa have been relatively small-scale and their potential feasibility, costs and benefits at scale, among other things, remain largely unexplored. This article examines elements of a successful cash transfer program from Latin America and discusses challenges inherent in scaling-up such programs. The authors attempt a cost simulation of a cash transfer program for HIV prevention in South Africa comparing its cost and relative effectiveness – in number of HIV infections averted – against other prevention interventions. If a cash transfer program were to be taken to scale, the intervention would not have a substantial effect on decreasing the force of the epidemic in middle- and low-income countries. The integration of cash transfer programs into other sectors and linking them to a broader objective such as girls’ educational attainment may be one way of addressing doubts raised by the authors regarding their value for HIV prevention.

Responding to vulnerability – the role of social welfare services and cash transfers

From a child-focused lens, effective social protection requires an understanding of the sources of vulnerability faced by children, and appropriate responses. One of the useful aspects of the increased prominence of cash transfers in the social protection debate has been to highlight the fact that for many children living in developing countries, economic poverty is a major driver of children's vulnerability and deprivation. However, without taking away from the crucial role of cash transfers, it is also clear that cash alone may not always be the optimum response to children and families' vulnerability. Social welfare services have an important role to play within social protection, but within developing countries this greater role faces two key challenges: weak social welfare services provision and the challenges of incorporating this into the already demanding social protection policy agenda. These challenges point to a number of questions requiring further research and learning.