Unconditional Cash Transfer Program Research Articles

A Process Evaluation of Social Protection Policy in the Unconditional Cash Transfer Programme for Vulnerable People

This study is a Process evaluation of the Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT), which is implemented by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), in Chipinge District. The study assessed the program's implementation methods. The study utilized a mixed methodology approach. Semi structured interviews were utilized to interview beneficiaries and project staff. A total of 10 interviewees were interviewed and 80 questionnaires were distributed to beneficiaries. Interviewees were purposely selected, and 80 questionnaire respondents were randomly selected. The author also gathered data through document analysis and observations. The study assessed if activities were being carried out according to plan, if non-cash and cash resources utilized according to plan, and whether the skills and competencies of the personnel were adequate. The study also analyzed beneficiary satisfaction and potential changes to the UCT program’s implementation. The findings were that UCT activities are being carried out according to plan. Cash and noncash resources are always available for the implementation of the UCT Programme and there is no abuse of funds. The findings indicated that the personnel are qualified enough for the implementation of the programme and that beneficiaries are satisfied with the UCT programme services. The study recommended that it might be necessary to increase the frequency of the cash transfer payments to a monthly basis instead of bi-monthly to empower the beneficiaries to generate more income. It was recommended that there be an exit strategy to phase out eligible beneficiaries and bring in new beneficiaries. It was also recommended that the payment process may be electrified to cut costs and for easy tracking of payments Since the study was based on a single case, Chipinge, it was recommended that there is need to conduct process evaluations on the UCT programme in other parts of the country to get a broader spectrum on the implementation of the UCT programme.

Long-Term Effects of Social Insurance on Adult Mortality: Evidence From Three Social Programs in Mexico

Research on the mortality effects of social insurance programs for older adults has generated conflicting results. Some studies suggest important health benefits, others find no effects, and still others find unintended adverse effects potentially linked to pathways such as increased obesity. Evidence has focused predominantly on short-run effects rather than net long-run mortality effects and their effects on the health of older adults has been particularly understudied. Mexico offers a unique opportunity for studying the long-run effects of social programs on adult mortality. Within a ten-year period, Mexico introduced the following influential social insurance programs: Progresa conditional cash transfer (CCT) program in 1997, 70 y más unconditional cash transfer (UCT) program for older persons in 2007, and Seguro Popular, a public health insurance program (PHI) for the uninsured, in 2004. In this paper we analyze effects on mortality for middle-age and older adults, by gender, 10-20 years after program implementation.

Effects of integrated psychosocial stimulation (PS) and Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) on Children's development in rural Bangladesh: A cluster randomized controlled trial

BackgroundThere is evidence on benefits of psychosocial stimulation (PS) and cash transfer programmes in low- and middle-income countries on children's development. We integrated PS into an unconditional cash transfer (UCT) programme for poor Bangladeshi mothers to examine the effects on children's development. MethodsThis cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted in rural Bangladesh from July 2017 to December 2018 in 33 clusters, with 11 clusters randomly assigned to each of the three arms, namely i) PS + UCT ii) UCT-only and iii) Comparison. We enrolled poor mothers and child (6–16 months) dyads eligible to receive maternity allowance by the Government of Bangladesh. Trained local women imparted training to mothers to provide psychosocial stimulation to their children for one year. Children's cognitive, language and motor development were measured with Bayley-III, behaviour with Wolke's ratings and maternal self-esteem with Rosenberg self-esteem scale. The analysis was intention-to-treat. ResultsOf the 594 mother-child dyads, 40 (6·8%) were lost to follow-up. Compared to UCT-only, children in the PS + UCT had significant improvement in cognitive (B = 2.96, 95% CI: 0.46–5.47, Effect Size [ES] 0.24SD) and language (2.73, 0.39–5.00, ES 0.21SD) scores and were more responsive to examiner (0.30, 0.06–0.52, ES 0.27SD), while compared to comparison group, they had significantly higher cognitive (3.37, 1.27–6.19, ES 0.32SD), language (2.82, 0.53–5.10, ES 0.24SD) and motor (2.65, 0.24–5.06, ES 0.22SD) scores and were more responsive to examiner (0.30, 0.08–0.52, ES 0.26 SD). The mothers’ self-esteem was significantly higher in PS + UCT (2.46, 0.94–3.98, ES 0.48 SD) and UCT-only (1.67, 0.02–3.20, ES 0.32 SD) compared to the comparison group. ConclusionPS integrated into an UCT programme benefited children's neurodevelopment and UCT improved mother's self-esteem. UCT programme may be an important platform for child stimulation programmes for rural poor populations.

Measuring the impact of unconditional cash transfers on consumption and poverty in Rwanda

This study estimates the causal effect of Rwanda’s unconditional cash transfer program (VUP-Direct Support) on the incidence of poverty, the poverty gap, and household food and non-food expenditure for direct support recipients. Our empirical analysis applies four matching methods to data from the 2013/14 household survey in order to estimate the program impact on the treated. The findings show that participation in the program has positive and statistically significant effects on measured headcount poverty and poverty gap. The program results in a small increase in both total and food consumption, with a reduction in consumption of food from home production, and no change in non-food consumption. The estimated treatment effects are relatively robust to violations of the conditional independence assumption, and to the choice of subsample.The fact that average annual cash transfers are equivalent to a third of total consumption, for recipients, plays an essential role in the observed results. Households respond to VUP cash transfers by working less on their own farms. This is a qualitatively different response than the reaction to remittances, which are associated with more consumption of all types. While VUP cash transfers do not raise consumption by as much as would be expected, thus having a modest effect on measured poverty rates, the transfers in effect allow a significant number of older subsistence households to at least partly retire.

Impact of emergency cash assistance on gender relations in the tribal areas of Pakistan

ABSTRACT This paper seeks to make a contribution to the discussion on the consequences of social change brought about by relief programs in humanitarian contexts. It examines the extent to which the Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) program (2014–2016) in the Pakistani tribal district of North Waziristan (NW) has influenced patriarchal gender norms in the region, in transforming perceptions about what men and women can do and on changing gender relations. Through interviews conducted in the field between 2017 and 2019, we examine the positive, albeit limited, impact on society and conclude that our study enabled a better understanding of micro practices and processes that challenge the patriarchal structure of society and the norms that sustain it. We illustrate how such processes have started to influence patriarchal norms by improving women’s status both at home and in the community, eventually leading to a shift in traditional perceptions and constructions of gender relations. Although these changes do appear significant, gender equality will continue to face tough challenges in the region and its consolidation depends on the collective efforts of development stakeholders to support unconditional, gender sensitive relief programs that transcend immediate humanitarian and post-humanitarian concerns.

Who spent their COVID-19 stimulus payment? Evidence from personal finance software in Japan

In response to the COVID-19 crisis, governments worldwide have been formulating and implementing different strategies to mitigate its social and economic impacts. We study the household consumption responses to Japan’s COVID-19 unconditional cash transfer program. Owing to frequent delays in local governments’ administrative procedures, the timing of the payment to households varied unexpectedly. Using this natural experiment, we analyze households’ consumption responses to cash transfers using high-frequency data from personal finance management software that links detailed information on expenditure, income, and wealth. We construct three consumption measures: one captures the baseline marginal propensity to consume (MPC), and the other two are for the lower and the upper bound of MPC. Additionally, we explore heterogeneity in MPCs by household income, wealth, and population characteristics, as well as consumption categories. Our results show that households exhibit immediate and non-negligible positive responses in household expenditure. There is significant heterogeneity depending on various household characteristics, with liquidity constraint status being the most crucial factor, in line with the standard consumption theory. Additionally, this study provides policymakers with insights regarding targeted cash transfer programs, conditioning on labor income, and liquidity constraints.

Conditional cash transfer programs and household labor supply

Employment correlates with the reduced risk of poverty. Through a randomized controlled trial, we evaluate the impact of a conditional cash transfer (CCT) program offered to low-income families with dependent children on household members’ labor supply. Recipients are required to attend labor-market-oriented mentoring courses as a condition for receiving the transfer. One year after admission to the program, fathers assigned to the CCT program are more likely to work (+14 percent) than fathers assigned to an unconditional cash transfer program or to a pure control group. No effect is observed for mothers. Results seem to be explained by improved family networks and increased investments, especially for fathers, in activities that enhance labor market opportunities.

Poverty Relief Programs in Postcommunist Countries: A Case Study on the Albanian and Chinese Programs

Social assistance is a cash transfer program targeting the poorest households. China has created the Dibao (DB), meaning minimum livelihood guarantee, the most extensive unconditional cash transfer program globally with over 70 million people covered, whereas in Albania, the Ndhime Ekonomike (NE) meaning financial help covers around 15% of the total working-age population. Both programs are means-tested, have strict requirements for eligibility, and have been enlarged and modified in time to improve targeting and tackling leakage. In this article, we will look at similarities and common issues first, and then calculate the cost of enlarging both programs to all working-age population with no means-testing. We argue that a UBI (universal basic income) can increase private expenditure in health and education while costing less than 1% of gross domestic product (GDP) in both countries’ rural areas. We will conclude by looking at how the COVID-19 outbreak is pushing developing countries toward a UBI by first adopting a temporary basic income (TBI).

Effect of BISP’S Unconditional Cash Transfer Program on Women Empowerment in Gilgit Baltistan

Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) is a targeted unconditional cash transfer program initiated to provide financial support to poor and vulnerable women for smoothing and cushioning the negative effects of slow economic growth. The present study aims to find out the effect of unconditional cash transfer BISP on women’s empowerment. We analyze women’s empowerment through exploring the effect of unconditional cash transfer on household decision making, their independence, status of women in the community and their freedom from domestic violence. We interviewed 20 beneficiaries among which 10 respondents belonged to district Gilgit whereas the remaining 10 were the residents of district Nagar the data was analyzed using thematic analysis. Purposive sampling was used for data collection and respondents were traced through snowball sampling technique. The findings aver that BISP has improved the household decision making of women, increased women independence at limited level and decreased domestic violence, however, minimal effect was observed on women’s status in society.

Crowding-out or crowding-in? Effects of LEAP 1000 unconditional cash transfer program on household and community support among women in rural Ghana

Abstract Social protection programs are not introduced in a vacuum and it is important to understand what effects such programs have on existing informal support networks of family, friends and community members. A social cash transfer may reduce receipt of informal financial support, which can water down part of the program’s impact. However, cash transfers can also reduce barriers to social participation and enable participants to engage in reciprocal support systems. We use data from the quasi-experimental mixed method impact evaluation of Ghana’s Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) 1000 program, a social cash transfer program for pregnant women and mothers of children under one year living in poverty, to estimate program effects on social support and participation. Using a difference-in-differences approach we find that LEAP 1000 increases overall social support, as well as both emotional and instrumental support. In addition, program beneficiaries are more likely to participate in community groups. In in-depth interviews, participants confirmed increased support with descriptions of improved access to financial markets, such as borrowing money or contributing to local savings schemes, and strengthening of social participation in local groups and gatherings. Beneficiary women also highlighted reduced need for economic support and new opportunities to support others. By creating opportunities for additional social support within the household and community, LEAP 1000 crowded-in support, rather than reducing existing sources of support or crowding-out support.

Rural minimum living standard guarantee (rural Dibao) program boosts children's education outcomes in rural China

PurposeTo combat poverty in China's rural areas, Chinese government has established an unconditional cash transfer program known as the Rural Minimum Living Standard Guarantee (Rural Dibao) Program. Interestingly, despite the importance of education in breaking cycles of poverty, little is known about Rural Dibao's impact on rural children's education. This study investigates Rural Dibao's impact on rural children's learning outcomes by first examining targeting issues within the program, exploring a causal relationship between Rural Dibao and learning outcomes, and then exploring potential mechanisms and heterogeneous effects.Design/methodology/approachFixed effects model and propensity score weighting method and data from China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) from the years 2010 and 2014 were used.FindingsThe results suggest that the Rural Dibao program suffers from high levels of targeting error, yet is still effective (i.e., program transfers generally still go to people in need). The fixed effects and propensity score weighting models find that program participation raises rural children's standardized test scores in CFPS Chinese-language and math tests. In investigating mechanisms, increased education expenditure seems to connect Rural Dibao participation to increased learning results. The heterogeneity analysis shows that poorer, non-eastern, not left behind, younger or male children benefit from the program (while others have no effect).Originality/valueThese findings suggest that Rural Dibao participation boosts rural children's learning, which could indicate a long-term anti-poverty effect, and that if the program can resolve targeting problems, this effect could be even greater.

Energy access and the ultra-poor: Do unconditional social cash transfers close the energy access gap in Malawi?

Despite global progress towards improving energy access, major challenges remain for closing the energy access gap between ultra-poor and better off households, and for reaching ultra-poor and last mile populations. Using data from Malawi, we explore the energy access gap between ultra-poor (N = 900) and better-off households (N = 2666) from the same communities. Compared to better-off households, ultra-poor households had significantly increased odds of having no lighting (OR = 1.58), and significantly reduced odds of having improved lighting (OR = 0.89), owning an improved firewood cookstove (OR = 0.90), and owning a charcoal stove (OR = 0.86). A sub-set of ultra-poor households in our sample received unconditional social cash transfer program (SCTP) payments from the Government of Malawi. Recipients of SCTP payments had significantly reduced odds of having no source of lighting in the household (OR = 0.21) and were more than three times more likely to own an improved cookstove (OR = 3.64) compared to ultra-poor households that have not received payments. The absolute value of per capita expenditures on energy related goods and services is statistically significantly higher for ultra-poor households that receive social cash transfers. We conclude that ultra-poor households experience greater depth of energy poverty compared to better-off households in the same communities. We also find that unconditional social cash transfer payments contribute to improved energy access for the ultra-poor, suggesting that they are a potentially important strategy for catalyzing energy transitions among the ultra-poor.

Age Set vs. Kin: Culture and Financial Ties in East Africa

We study how social organization shapes patterns of economic interaction and the distributional consequences of public policy, focusing on the distinction between age-based and kin-based social structure in sub-Saharan Africa. In age-based ethnicities, known as ``age set societies,'' individuals are organized into social groups based on age cohort that take priority over kinship ties. Motivated by ethnographic accounts that suggest that these differences are important for financial transfers, we analyze an unconditional cash transfer program in Kenya and document that in age set societies there are large consumption spillovers within the age cohort, but not the extended family, while in kin-based societies we find the opposite pattern. Next, we document that local variation in social structure shapes the impact of national policy. Exploiting the staggered roll-out of Uganda's social pension program, we find that household exposure to the program has large, positive effects on child nutrition and educational investment in kin-based societies, but no impact on children in age set societies, where intergenerational ties are weak.

Collaborative governance model in COVID-19 pandemic mitigation: a temporary unconditional cash transfer program

The COVID-19 disaster has spread all over Indonesia, causing a sense of laziness for people in the economy by paying very large costs, limited activities, and even losing their jobs. The government through the direct cash assistance program as a mitigation measure in reducing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but so far it has not been effective. The purpose of this study was to determine the ideal cooperative governance model for the cash transfer program during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study uses a qualitative method with a descriptive approach. The results of this study indicate that the cash transfer program still has many obstacles in distributing it to many people who are not on target, which is the result of collaboration between stakeholders such as the Social Service, Population and Civil Registry Office, Village Government, Village Community, Coordinator Team Field, and the COVID-19 Task Force Team. To increase cooperation between these stakeholders by strengthening on several sides such as: First, the government conducts data collection and systematic data collection between the recommendations of the names of beneficiaries from the village with the approval by the Population and Civil Registry Office and the Social Service Office. Second, the Government and the Community carry out monitoring and supervision. The desired impact is that the temporary unconditional cash transfer program can run effectively and benefit people in need. This program is a social network during the COVID-19 period.

Evaluation of an unconditional cash transfer program targeting children's first-1,000-days linear growth in rural Togo: A cluster-randomized controlled trial.

BackgroundIn 2014, the government of Togo implemented a pilot unconditional cash transfer (UCT) program in rural villages that aimed at improving children’s nutrition, health, and protection. It combined monthly UCTs (approximately US$8.40 /month) with a package of community activities (including behavior change communication [BCC] sessions, home visits, and integrated community case management of childhood illnesses and acute malnutrition [ICCM-Nut]) delivered to mother–child pairs during the first “1,000 days” of life. We primarily investigated program impact at population level on children’s height-for-age z-scores (HAZs) and secondarily on stunting (HAZ < −2) and intermediary outcomes including household’s food insecurity, mother–child pairs’ diet and health, delivery in a health facility and low birth weight (LBW), women’s knowledge, and physical intimate partner violence (IPV).Methods and findingsWe implemented a parallel-cluster–randomized controlled trial, in which 162 villages were randomized into either an intervention arm (UCTs + package of community activities, n = 82) or a control arm (package of community activities only, n = 80). Two different representative samples of children aged 6–29 months and their mothers were surveyed in each arm, one before the intervention in 2014 (control: n = 1,301, intervention: n = 1,357), the other 2 years afterwards in 2016 (control: n = 996, intervention: n = 1,035). Difference-in-differences (DD) estimates of impact were calculated, adjusting for clustering. Children’s average age was 17.4 (± 0.24 SE) months in the control arm and 17.6 (± 0.19 SE) months in the intervention arm at baseline. UCTs had a protective effect on HAZ (DD = +0.25 z-scores, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.01–0.50, p = 0.039), which deteriorated in the control arm while remaining stable in the intervention arm, but had no impact on stunting (DD = −6.2 percentage points [pp], relative odds ratio [ROR]: 0.74, 95% CI: 0.51–1.06, p = 0.097). UCTs positively impacted both mothers’ and children’s (18–23 months) consumption of animal source foods (ASFs) (respectively, DD = +4.5 pp, ROR: 2.24, 95% CI: 1.09–4.61, p = 0.029 and DD = +9.1 pp, ROR: 2.65, 95% CI: 1.01–6.98, p = 0.048) and household food insecurity (DD = −10.7 pp, ROR: 0.63, 95% CI: 0.43–0.91, p = 0.016). UCTs did not impact on reported child morbidity 2 week’s prior to report (DD = −3.5 pp, ROR: 0.80, 95% CI: 0.56–1.14, p = 0.214) but reduced the financial barrier to seeking healthcare for sick children (DD = −26.4 pp, ROR: 0.23, 95% CI: 0.08–0.66, p = 0.006). Women who received cash had higher odds of delivering in a health facility (DD = +10.6 pp, ROR: 1.53, 95% CI: 1.10–2.13, p = 0.012) and lower odds of giving birth to babies with birth weights (BWs) <2,500 g (DD = −11.8, ROR: 0.29, 95% CI: 0.10–0.82, p = 0.020). Positive effects were also found on women’s knowledge (DD = +14.8, ROR: 1.86, 95% CI: 1.32–2.62, p < 0.001) and physical IPV (DD = −7.9 pp, ROR: 0.60, 95% CI: 0.36–0.99, p = 0.048). Study limitations included the short evaluation period (24 months) and the low coverage of UCTs, which might have reduced the program’s impact.ConclusionsUCTs targeting the first “1,000 days” had a protective effect on child’s linear growth in rural areas of Togo. Their simultaneous positive effects on various immediate, underlying, and basic causes of malnutrition certainly contributed to this ultimate impact. The positive impacts observed on pregnancy- and birth-related outcomes call for further attention to the conception period in nutrition-sensitive programs.Trial registrationISRCTN Registry ISRCTN83330970.

Inequality and conditionality in cash transfers: Demographic transition and economic development

This study examines the effects of conditionality in cash transfers on inequality to alleviate current poverty and reduce its intergenerational transmission. We consider an overlapping generations model with endogenous fertility, where poor households face a trade-off between schooling and child labor. We show that adding conditionality induces a fertility differential increase if the relative wages for child labor are high. When comparing conditional cash transfer programs and unconditional cash transfer programs, our numerical analysis suggests that conditional cash transfer programs promote a take-off from a poverty trap in the short run, but it may worsen income inequality as a whole by increasing the fertility rate of low-income groups.

The effect of cash transfers on mental health: Opening the black box - A study from South Africa.

There is a gap in the literature in understanding how cash transfer programmes affect mental health. We aim to fill this gap by conceptualising and estimating the mediation effects of an unconditional cash transfer programme on mental health. We use a sample of 4,535 adults living below the South African poverty line in four waves (2008–2014) of the South African National Income Dynamics Study. We use information on individual exposure to South Africa's largest unconditional cash transfer programme, the Child Support Grant. Mental health is measured by the 10-item version of the Centre for Epidemiological Depression Scale. We use the product of the coefficient method for the mediation analysis in combination with instrumental variable estimation. We find that physical health and lifestyle factors mediate the relationship of the unconditional cash transfer programme, each explaining about eight percent and 16% of the total positive effect. Our findings show that individuals living in poverty make investment decisions that are positive for their mental health, which has strong implications for policy makers.

Do cash transfers increase nutritional intakes? Experimental evidence from an unconditional cash transfer in Kenya.

Malnutrition due to persistent food insecurity has been a serious public health issue in Kenya. An unconditional cash transfer programme, the Hunger Safety Net Programme (HSNP), was launched in 2009 in northern Kenya to reduce extreme poverty and to mitigate food insecurity. This study investigates the impact of the HSNP, on expenditure on food, types of food consumed and nutritional intake. Focusing on nutritional intake as well as spending and consumption is important because an unconditional cash transfer, which does not specify how the transferred money must be used, does not guarantee nutritional intake improvement. Converting food consumption data to caloric intake and nutrient content using food consumption databases, we calculate the intake of five macro-nutrients, seven vitamins and seven minerals and then estimate the impacts on nutritional intake 12 and 24 months after treatment exposure. This study finds the increased total expenditure on food items. Specifically, the beneficiary households increased their expenditure on milk and milk products and that on sugar after 12 months and expenditure on roots and tubers after 24 months. For consumption amounts, however, the HSNP did not show significant increases in all food categories except sugar. On the other hand, the HSNP improved the nutritional intakes of some macro- and micro-nutrients. The results show that beneficiary households substantially increased their intake of fat by 25.2% after 24 months and their intake of vitamin B12 by 36.6% and calcium by 34.9% after 12 months. The result does not yield sufficiently strong evidence that poorer households significantly enjoy greater improvements than other households.

Welfare and Conflict: Policy Failure in the Indonesian Cash Transfer

AbstractWelfare policy may promote social integration and reduce social conflicts in communities. However, this study finds that the Indonesian unconditional cash transfer program stimulated multifaceted conflicts, which were accompanied by harmful social unrest. The government failed to lessen such conflicts, but community leaders successfully minimized the conflicts through informal redistribution. This redistribution reflects problematic informal-formal layering and nesting, which lead to a complicated policy failure. Employing social conflict and institutional change theoretical frameworks, this article aims at using the Indonesian cash transfer as a lens to understand how and why welfare policy causes social conflicts in communities and how the conflicts stimulate policy distortion and modification, resulting in policy failure. This policy failure reveals important theoretical implications on the nexus of conflict and institutional change.

Dampak Program Bantuan Tunai (Cash Transfer) terhadap Kesejahteraan Subyektif di Indonesia

Cash transfer programs have become the main poverty-alleviating policy in several developing countries. This study analyzes the perceived impact of Direct Cash Assistance (BLT) as an Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) program in Indonesia by examining beneficiary households’ subjective wellbeing. Two rounds of Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS) panel data from 2007 (IFLS-4) and 2015 (IFLS-5) are used, from which this study take the subjective wellbeing indicators. Three main categories of subjective wellbeing components are developed using Principle Component Analysis (PCA): family satisfaction, future perception, and children. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and fixed effect methods are used to determine the impact of UCT program on subjective wellbeing. The Indonesian UCT program is negatively correlated or has no impact on improving recipients’ subjective wellbeing compared to that of non-recipients. Out of the three subjective wellbeing components, family satisfaction appears to have received significant and positive impact from the UCT program. UCT may also help beneficiaries maintain stable consumption level during short-term economic shocks, but future perception and children’s wellbeing perception are not found to be affected.