The Education Impacts of CashTransfers for Children with MultipleIndicators of Vulnerability
- alyssa
- 2 days ago
- 1 min read
By David K. Evans, Charles Gale, and Katrina Kosec
Overview
A study published by the Center for Global Development (Working Paper 563) evaluates the long-term educational impacts of community-implemented conditional cash transfers (CCTs) on vulnerable children in Tanzania. Using a randomized controlled trial across 80 villages over nearly three years, the research examines whether safety net programs equally benefit children facing multiple layers of disadvantage.
Key Findings
Overall Educational Boost: Assignment to cash transfers significantly increased school participation (8 to 10 percentage points) and primary school completion rates (14 to 16 percentage points).
Unequal Distribution of Gains: The benefits are not distributed equally among vulnerable groups. The study highlights distinct disparities in how different subgroups benefit from cash transfers. Children from the lowest-income households experience greater gains along the extensive margin, reflecting a higher likelihood of ever attending school, whereas their slightly better-off peers achieve greater gains along the intensive margin, showing a higher likelihood of completing primary school. Additionally, educational gains are heavily concentrated among students who demonstrated stronger academic performance at baseline. Regarding demographics and background, boys and girls benefit roughly equally, but orphans realize smaller improvements in school participation compared to non-orphans.
Policy Implications
While cash transfers are powerful tools for poverty alleviation and educational access, the findings suggest that conditions alone cannot overcome all barriers for the most marginalized youth. Achieving truly universal enrollment will likely require a complementary array of targeted interventions tailored to specific vulnerabilities.
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