Can Cash Transfer Programmes Have ‘Transformative’ Effects?

Molyneux, Maxine; Jones, With Nicola; Samuels, Fiona

doi:10.1080/00220388.2015.1134781

Cited by 114 publications

(99 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Boshara's Libertarian endorsement of Hanlon et al (2010Hanlon et al ( /2013 speaks to its ideational mooring. Whether, on its own terms, neoliberal cash transfer schemes represent a 'magic bullet' remains a subject of speculation (Adato and Hoddinott, 2009;Molyneux et al, 2016;Shibuya, 2008). For instance, contrary to the initial claims of the substantive impact of Bolsa Família as poverty-and inequality-reducing, evidence suggests that it accounts for only 15 per cent of the total reduction in poverty over the period -10 (Lavinas et al, 2017.…”

Section: Blind Spots and Elective Amnesia Of A 'Magic Bullet'mentioning

confidence: 99%

Policy Merchandising and Social Assistance in Africa: Don't Call Dog Monkey for Me

Adésínà¹

2020

Development and Change

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The title of this article draws on a Yorùbá aphorism that roughly translates into ‘don't sell me a dummy’. The dark side of social policy, the theme of this Debate, has a distinct character in the African context. The transformation of the African public policy landscape, shaped by the ‘counter‐revolution’ in development thinking, has taken a new form with the donor ‘policy merchandising’ of cash transfer schemes. The stratified and segregated social policy on offer contrasts with the historical experience of ‘donor’ countries themselves. The policy instrument advanced is cast as ‘a silent revolution in development’, embodying the idea of development shifting from structural transformation to poverty alleviation. What is promoted is an impoverished version of development. Within the discourse of ‘working with the grain of African politics’, the politics of social assistance policy merchandising starts with a notion of politics as clientelist. It then deploys the instrumentality of clientelism — within an imperial deployment of power — in the manufacture of civil society and policy coalition, to ensure the local adoption of a policy instrument that the extra‐territorial donor actors offer. This modality of public policy formulation contrasts sharply with the historical experience of public policy making in the ‘donor’ countries themselves. The result is the subversion of the consolidation of democracy in the African client states.

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Section: Blind Spots and Elective Amnesia Of A 'Magic Bullet'mentioning

confidence: 99%

Policy Merchandising and Social Assistance in Africa: Don't Call Dog Monkey for Me

Adésínà¹

2020

Development and Change

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“…Indeed, researchers have recently made appeals for more data that address the complexity of psychosocial wellbeing among OVA across a wide range of outcome indicators [23, 24]. It is important to understand the potential impact of financial incentives on the psychological states of OVA because mental health conditions are among the leading causes of mortality among adolescents living in poverty [25, 26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unconditional government cash transfers in support of orphaned and vulnerable adolescents in western Kenya: Is there an association with psychological wellbeing?

et al. 2017

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BackgroundOrphaned and vulnerable adolescents (OVA) in sub-Saharan Africa are at greater risk for adverse psychological outcomes compared with their non-OVA counterparts. Social interventions that provide cash transfers (CTs) have been shown to improve health outcomes among young people, but little is known about their impact on the psychological wellbeing of OVA.ObjectiveAmong OVA in western Kenya, we assessed the association between living in a household that received monthly unconditional government CTs and psychological wellbeing.MethodsWe examined the likelihood of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and positive future outlook among 655 OVA aged between 10 and 18 years who lived in 300 randomly selected households in western Kenya that either received or did not receive unconditional monthly CTs.ResultsThe mean age was 14.0 (SD 2.4) years and 329 (50.2%) of the participants were female while 190 (29.0%) were double orphans whose biological parents were both deceased. After adjusting for socio-demographic, caregiver, and household characteristics and accounting for potential effects of participant clustering by sub-location of residence, OVA living in CT households were more likely to have a positive future outlook (odds ratio [OR] 1.47, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.08, 1.99), less likely to be anxious (OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.42, 0.78), and less likely to have symptoms of post-traumatic stress (OR 0.50, 95% CI 0.29, 0.89). We did not find statistically significant differences in odds of depression by CT group.ConclusionOVA in CT households reported better psychological wellbeing compared to those in households not receiving CTs. CT interventions may be effective for improving psychological wellbeing among vulnerable adolescents in socioeconomically deprived households.

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“…Molina-Millan et al (2016) provides a review of longer-term effects of CCTs in Latin America and finds that the evidence is mixed. Molyneux, Jones and Samuels (2016) strike a similarly cautious tone about the transformative effects of social protection programs.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

When the Money Runs Out: Do Cash Transfers Have Sustained Effects on Human Capital Accumulation?

Baird¹,

McIntosh²,

Özler³

2016

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We examine the medium-term effects of a two-year cash transfer program targeted to adolescent girls and young women. Significant declines in HIV prevalence, teen pregnancy, and early marriage among recipients of unconditional cash transfers (UCTs) during the program evaporated quickly two years after the cessation of transfers. However, children born to UCT beneficiaries during the program had significantly higher height-for-age z-scores at follow-up.On the other hand, conditional cash transfers (CCTs) offered to out-of-school females at baseline produced a large increase in educational attainment and a sustained reduction in the total number of births, but caused no gains in health, labor market outcomes, or empowerment. Our findings point to both the promise and the limitations of cash transfer programs for sustained gains in welfare among young women.

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Can Cash Transfer Programmes Have ‘Transformative’ Effects?

Cited by 114 publications

References 22 publications

Policy Merchandising and Social Assistance in Africa: Don't Call Dog Monkey for Me

Policy Merchandising and Social Assistance in Africa: Don't Call Dog Monkey for Me

Unconditional government cash transfers in support of orphaned and vulnerable adolescents in western Kenya: Is there an association with psychological wellbeing?

When the Money Runs Out: Do Cash Transfers Have Sustained Effects on Human Capital Accumulation?

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