Cash transfers and women’s control over decision-making and labor supply in Egypt

Abstract

Women's control over decision-making within their family, particularly regarding the use of household income, can play an important and long-lasting role in shaping their well-being and that of their children. Cash transfer programs often target women in order to increase their control over household resources. Empirical evidence on the effectiveness of this approach is mixed and suggests the importance of local context. We present evidence on the effect of cash transfers on women's control over decision-making in the MENA region, where little evidence is available and where cultural norms around women's roles differ from more-studied regions. Using a regression discontinuity approach, we identify the impact of Egypt's "Takaful" national cash transfer program on women's control over decision-making and labor supply. Receiving cash transfers mostly reduced women's reported ability to influence household decisions, particularly regarding child healthcare. The loss of control over decision-making was greater for women with less than primary education. Other effects of the program include a decline in women's employment and an increase in men's involvement in spheres of decision-making usually controlled by women. These results are robust to changes in model specification. We present suggestive evidence from mediation analysis that the negative effects on women's control over decision-making was directly related to these declines in employment and increase in men's involvement in female spheres. The negative findings are not wholly supported by complementary qualitative work in which women reported more positive perceptions of the program's impacts.

Strengthening women's empowerment and gender equality in fragile contexts towards peaceful and inclusive societies: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…As one programme officer of the Takaful and Karama programme observed: ‘We cannot conclude whether these effects would have been different if the transfers were targeted to men, but it seems unlikely that doing so would have improved women's control over household decisions' (ElDidi et al, 2018). There was additional support by both men and women of the choice to prioritise women (El‐Enbaby et al, 2019).…”

“…Most of these beneficiaries had high levels of financial debt from an array of sources. Rural Egyptian communities with rigid social norms were difficult to access and to target women, who were blocked from participating in work (El‐Enbaby et al, 2019).…”

“…There was evidence on meeting of conditional requirements to qualify for cash injections; participants in the Takaful and Karama programme suggested that it was a justified strategy to ensure that the needy are andomized and that cash is not misused (Zaki, 2018). Poorer households were also often indifferent on meeting the requirement of minimum school attendance and clinic visit targets for pre-schoolers which was stipulated by the Takaful and Karama programme (El-Enbaby et al, 2019).…”

“…Evidence from the Takaful and Karama scheme suggested that women preferred being the main beneficiaries of cash programmes with one female beneficiary expressing: 'It's good this way (that the transfers are going to women) […] the state's caring for me. In other words, it's given me dignity' (El-Enbaby et al, 2019).…”

Encouragement and Distortionary Effects of Conditional Cash Transfers

“…Indeed, the famous Progresa program in Mexico that targets cash transfers to mothers if children receive health checkups, led to a reduction in female labor supply (De Brauw et al, 2015). A CCT program in Egypt also reduced labor supply outside of the household for female recipients (El-Enbaby et al, 2019). It should be noted that income effects from the CCT could also cause the reduction in labor supply.…”