Can Conditional Cash Transfers Compensate for a Father's Absence?

Can Conditional Cash Transfers Compensate for a Father's Absence?

This paper investigates how the permanent departure of the father from a household affects children's school enrollment and work participation in rural Colombia. The results indicate that the permanent departure of the father decreases childre...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Fitzsimons, Emla, Mesnard, Alice
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2013
Subjects:	ACCOUNT ADOLESCENTS ADULT MORTALITY ADVERSE CONSEQUENCES ADVERSE EFFECTS ATTRITION BARGAINING BARGAINING POWER BASIC EDUCATION CAPACITY BUILDING CHILD EDUCATION CHILD LABOR CHILD LABOUR CITIZENS COMPULSORY EDUCATION COMPULSORY SCHOOLING CULTURAL CHANGE DECEASED FATHER DECISION MAKING DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DEVELOPMENT POLICY DIVORCE EARLY CHILDHOOD EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT EARLY DEATH ECONOMIC GROWTH EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES ENROLLMENT ENROLLMENT DATA ENROLLMENT RATE EXTENDED FAMILY FAMILY COMPOSITION FAMILY INCOME FAMILY LIFE FAMILY STRUCTURE FINANCIAL MARKETS FORMAL EDUCATION GIRLS GOVERNMENT SUPPORT HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE HIV HOUSEHOLD INCOME HOUSEHOLD LEVEL HUMAN CAPITAL IFS ILLNESS ILLNESSES IMPACT OF MIGRATION IMPACT ON CHILDREN IMPORTANT POLICY INCOME INSURANCE INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE INVESTMENT IN CHILDREN INVESTMENTS IN EDUCATION JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE LABOR ECONOMICS LABOR MARKET LABOR SUPPLY LABOUR LAM LEVELS OF EDUCATION MARITAL STATUS MARKET FAILURES MIGRATION MORTALITY MOTHER NATURAL DISASTERS NUMBER OF ADULTS NUMBER OF CHILDREN NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLDS NUTRITION ORPHANHOOD ORPHANS PARENTAL DEATH PARTICIPATION RATES POLICY DISCUSSIONS POLICY IMPLICATIONS POLICY RESEARCH POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER PRIMARY SCHOOL PRIMARY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE PRIMARY SCHOOL PARTICIPATION PROGRESS RESPECT RURAL AREAS SAFETY SAFETY NET SAFETY NETS SCHOOL ATTENDANCE SCHOOL ENROLMENT SCHOOL SYSTEM SCHOOLING SECONDARY SCHOOL SEX SINGLE-PARENT HOUSEHOLDS SOCIAL PROTECTION SOCIAL SAFETY SPOUSE UNEMPLOYMENT URBAN AREAS VIOLENCE VULNERABILITY YOUNG CHILDREN
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/06/17831762/can-conditional-cash-transfers-compensate-fathers-absence http://hdl.handle.net/10986/15837

Description
Summary:	This paper investigates how the permanent departure of the father from a household affects children's school enrollment and work participation in rural Colombia. The results indicate that the permanent departure of the father decreases children's school enrollment by approximately 5 percentage points and increases child labor by 3 percentage points. This paper explores the rollout of a conditional-cash-transfer program during the period of study and shows that this program counteracts these adverse effects. When coupled with other evidence, this finding strongly suggests that the channel through which the father's departure most affects children is by reducing the income of very poor households, which tightens their liquidity constraints. This finding also highlights the important safety-net role played by welfare programs with respect to disadvantaged households, particularly because these households are unlikely to have formal or informal mechanisms with which to insure themselves against such vagaries.