The Short-Term Impacts of a Schooling Conditional Cash Transfer Program on the Sexual Behavior of Young Women

Recent evidence suggests that conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs for schooling are effective in raising school enrolment and attendance. However, there is also reason to believe that such programs can affect other outcomes, such as the sexual behavior of their young beneficiaries. Zomba Cash T...

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Main Authors: Baird, Sarah, Chirwa, Ephraim, McIntosh, Craig, Ozler, Berk
Format: Journal Article
Language:EN
Published: 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4910
id okr-10986-4910
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-49102021-04-23T14:02:20Z The Short-Term Impacts of a Schooling Conditional Cash Transfer Program on the Sexual Behavior of Young Women Baird, Sarah Chirwa, Ephraim McIntosh, Craig Ozler, Berk Taxation and Subsidies: Externalities Redistributive Effects Environmental Taxes and Subsidies H230 Education: Government Policy I280 Fertility Family Planning Child Care INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AREAS :: Children Youth J130 Economics of Gender Non-labor Discrimination J160 Economic Development: Human Resources Human Development Income Distribution Migration O150 Microdata Set Recent evidence suggests that conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs for schooling are effective in raising school enrolment and attendance. However, there is also reason to believe that such programs can affect other outcomes, such as the sexual behavior of their young beneficiaries. Zomba Cash Transfer Program is a randomized ongoing CCT intervention targeting young women in Malawi that provides incentives (in the form of school fees and cash transfers) to current schoolgirls and recent dropouts to stay in or return to school. An average offer of US$ 10/month conditional on satisfactory school attendance--plus direct payment of secondary school fees--led to significant declines in early marriage, teenage pregnancy, and self-reported sexual activity among program beneficiaries after just one year of program implementation. For program beneficiaries who were out of school at baseline, the probability of getting married and becoming pregnant declined by more than 40 and 30%, respectively. In addition, the incidence of the onset of sexual activity was 38% lower among all program beneficiaries than the control group. Overall, these results suggest that CCT programs not only serve as useful tools for improving school attendance but may also reduce sexual activity, teen pregnancy, and early marriage. 2012-03-30T07:30:20Z 2012-03-30T07:30:20Z 2010 Journal Article Health Economics 10579230 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4910 EN http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Journal Article Malawi
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language EN
topic Taxation and Subsidies: Externalities
Redistributive Effects
Environmental Taxes and Subsidies H230
Education: Government Policy I280
Fertility
Family Planning
Child Care
INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AREAS :: Children
Youth J130
Economics of Gender
Non-labor Discrimination J160
Economic Development: Human Resources
Human Development
Income Distribution
Migration O150
Microdata Set
spellingShingle Taxation and Subsidies: Externalities
Redistributive Effects
Environmental Taxes and Subsidies H230
Education: Government Policy I280
Fertility
Family Planning
Child Care
INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AREAS :: Children
Youth J130
Economics of Gender
Non-labor Discrimination J160
Economic Development: Human Resources
Human Development
Income Distribution
Migration O150
Microdata Set
Baird, Sarah
Chirwa, Ephraim
McIntosh, Craig
Ozler, Berk
The Short-Term Impacts of a Schooling Conditional Cash Transfer Program on the Sexual Behavior of Young Women
geographic_facet Malawi
relation http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo
description Recent evidence suggests that conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs for schooling are effective in raising school enrolment and attendance. However, there is also reason to believe that such programs can affect other outcomes, such as the sexual behavior of their young beneficiaries. Zomba Cash Transfer Program is a randomized ongoing CCT intervention targeting young women in Malawi that provides incentives (in the form of school fees and cash transfers) to current schoolgirls and recent dropouts to stay in or return to school. An average offer of US$ 10/month conditional on satisfactory school attendance--plus direct payment of secondary school fees--led to significant declines in early marriage, teenage pregnancy, and self-reported sexual activity among program beneficiaries after just one year of program implementation. For program beneficiaries who were out of school at baseline, the probability of getting married and becoming pregnant declined by more than 40 and 30%, respectively. In addition, the incidence of the onset of sexual activity was 38% lower among all program beneficiaries than the control group. Overall, these results suggest that CCT programs not only serve as useful tools for improving school attendance but may also reduce sexual activity, teen pregnancy, and early marriage.
format Journal Article
author Baird, Sarah
Chirwa, Ephraim
McIntosh, Craig
Ozler, Berk
author_facet Baird, Sarah
Chirwa, Ephraim
McIntosh, Craig
Ozler, Berk
author_sort Baird, Sarah
title The Short-Term Impacts of a Schooling Conditional Cash Transfer Program on the Sexual Behavior of Young Women
title_short The Short-Term Impacts of a Schooling Conditional Cash Transfer Program on the Sexual Behavior of Young Women
title_full The Short-Term Impacts of a Schooling Conditional Cash Transfer Program on the Sexual Behavior of Young Women
title_fullStr The Short-Term Impacts of a Schooling Conditional Cash Transfer Program on the Sexual Behavior of Young Women
title_full_unstemmed The Short-Term Impacts of a Schooling Conditional Cash Transfer Program on the Sexual Behavior of Young Women
title_sort short-term impacts of a schooling conditional cash transfer program on the sexual behavior of young women
publishDate 2012
url http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4910
_version_ 1764393209148997632