Does Money Matter? The Effects of Cash Transfers on Child Health and Development in Rural Ecuador
The authors examine how a government-run cash transfer program targeted to poor mothers in rural Ecuador influenced the health and development of their children. This program is of particular interest because, unlike other transfer programs that ha...
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2012
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2007/05/7581259/money-matter-effects-cash-transfers-child-health-development-rural-ecuador http://hdl.handle.net/10986/7076 |
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okr-10986-70762021-04-23T14:02:33Z Does Money Matter? The Effects of Cash Transfers on Child Health and Development in Rural Ecuador Paxson, Christina Schady, Norbert ADJUSTMENT ADULTHOOD AVERAGE AGE BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS BEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS CARE SERVICES CHILD CARE CHILD DEVELOPMENT CHILD HEALTH CLINICS COGNITIVE ABILITY COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENTS COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE CONTROL GROUPS DEPRESSION EARLY ADULTHOOD EARLY CHILD DEVELOPMENT EARLY CHILDHOOD EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES FAMILIES FAMILY MEMBERS GENDER GIRLS HEALTH CARE INFANCY INFANTS INFECTIONS INTERVENTION IODINE DEFICIENCY IRON IRON DEFICIENCY LATIN AMERICAN LIFE EVENTS MALARIA MALE PARTNERS MEMORY MENTAL MENTAL DEVELOPMENT MENTAL HEALTH MICRONUTRIENTS MIGRATION MORBIDITY MORTALITY MOTOR SKILLS NUTRITION NUTRITIONAL STATUS OLDER CHILDREN ONLY CHILDREN PARENTAL EDUCATION PARENTING PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT PREGNANCY PRIMARY HEALTH CARE PRIMARY SCHOOL PUBLIC HEALTH RECALL RECOGNITION SEX SOCIAL ASSISTANCE SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM VITAMINS WAGES YOUNG CHILDREN YOUNG MOTHERS YOUNGER CHILDREN The authors examine how a government-run cash transfer program targeted to poor mothers in rural Ecuador influenced the health and development of their children. This program is of particular interest because, unlike other transfer programs that have been implemented recently in Latin America, receipt of the cash transfers was not conditioned on specific parental actions, such as taking children to health clinics or sending them to school. This feature of the program makes it possible to assess whether conditionality is necessary for programs to have beneficial effects on children. The authors use random assignment at the parish level to identify the program's effects. They find that the cash transfer program had positive effects on the physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development of children, and the treatment effects were substantially larger for the poorer children than for less poor children. Among the poorest children in the sample, those whose mothers were eligible for transfers had outcomes that were on average more than 20 percent of a standard deviation higher than those for comparable children in the control group. Treatment effects are somewhat larger for girls and for children with more highly-educated mothers. The authors examine three mechanisms-better nutrition, greater use of health care, and better parenting-through which the transfers might influence child development. The program appeared to improve children's nutrition and increased the chance they were treated for helminth infections. But children in the treatment group were not more likely to visit health clinics for growth monitoring, and the mental health and parenting of their mothers did not improve. 2012-06-04T21:57:01Z 2012-06-04T21:57:01Z 2007-05 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2007/05/7581259/money-matter-effects-cash-transfers-child-health-development-rural-ecuador http://hdl.handle.net/10986/7076 English Policy Research Working Paper; No. 4226 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research Latin America & Caribbean Ecuador |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
ADJUSTMENT ADULTHOOD AVERAGE AGE BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS BEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS CARE SERVICES CHILD CARE CHILD DEVELOPMENT CHILD HEALTH CLINICS COGNITIVE ABILITY COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENTS COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE CONTROL GROUPS DEPRESSION EARLY ADULTHOOD EARLY CHILD DEVELOPMENT EARLY CHILDHOOD EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES FAMILIES FAMILY MEMBERS GENDER GIRLS HEALTH CARE INFANCY INFANTS INFECTIONS INTERVENTION IODINE DEFICIENCY IRON IRON DEFICIENCY LATIN AMERICAN LIFE EVENTS MALARIA MALE PARTNERS MEMORY MENTAL MENTAL DEVELOPMENT MENTAL HEALTH MICRONUTRIENTS MIGRATION MORBIDITY MORTALITY MOTOR SKILLS NUTRITION NUTRITIONAL STATUS OLDER CHILDREN ONLY CHILDREN PARENTAL EDUCATION PARENTING PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT PREGNANCY PRIMARY HEALTH CARE PRIMARY SCHOOL PUBLIC HEALTH RECALL RECOGNITION SEX SOCIAL ASSISTANCE SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM VITAMINS WAGES YOUNG CHILDREN YOUNG MOTHERS YOUNGER CHILDREN |
| spellingShingle |
ADJUSTMENT ADULTHOOD AVERAGE AGE BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS BEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS CARE SERVICES CHILD CARE CHILD DEVELOPMENT CHILD HEALTH CLINICS COGNITIVE ABILITY COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENTS COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE CONTROL GROUPS DEPRESSION EARLY ADULTHOOD EARLY CHILD DEVELOPMENT EARLY CHILDHOOD EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES FAMILIES FAMILY MEMBERS GENDER GIRLS HEALTH CARE INFANCY INFANTS INFECTIONS INTERVENTION IODINE DEFICIENCY IRON IRON DEFICIENCY LATIN AMERICAN LIFE EVENTS MALARIA MALE PARTNERS MEMORY MENTAL MENTAL DEVELOPMENT MENTAL HEALTH MICRONUTRIENTS MIGRATION MORBIDITY MORTALITY MOTOR SKILLS NUTRITION NUTRITIONAL STATUS OLDER CHILDREN ONLY CHILDREN PARENTAL EDUCATION PARENTING PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT PREGNANCY PRIMARY HEALTH CARE PRIMARY SCHOOL PUBLIC HEALTH RECALL RECOGNITION SEX SOCIAL ASSISTANCE SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM VITAMINS WAGES YOUNG CHILDREN YOUNG MOTHERS YOUNGER CHILDREN Paxson, Christina Schady, Norbert Does Money Matter? The Effects of Cash Transfers on Child Health and Development in Rural Ecuador |
| geographic_facet |
Latin America & Caribbean Ecuador |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper; No. 4226 |
| description |
The authors examine how a government-run
cash transfer program targeted to poor mothers in rural
Ecuador influenced the health and development of their
children. This program is of particular interest because,
unlike other transfer programs that have been implemented
recently in Latin America, receipt of the cash transfers was
not conditioned on specific parental actions, such as taking
children to health clinics or sending them to school. This
feature of the program makes it possible to assess whether
conditionality is necessary for programs to have beneficial
effects on children. The authors use random assignment at
the parish level to identify the program's effects.
They find that the cash transfer program had positive
effects on the physical, cognitive, and socioemotional
development of children, and the treatment effects were
substantially larger for the poorer children than for less
poor children. Among the poorest children in the sample,
those whose mothers were eligible for transfers had outcomes
that were on average more than 20 percent of a standard
deviation higher than those for comparable children in the
control group. Treatment effects are somewhat larger for
girls and for children with more highly-educated mothers.
The authors examine three mechanisms-better nutrition,
greater use of health care, and better parenting-through
which the transfers might influence child development. The
program appeared to improve children's nutrition and
increased the chance they were treated for helminth
infections. But children in the treatment group were not
more likely to visit health clinics for growth monitoring,
and the mental health and parenting of their mothers did not improve. |
| format |
Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper |
| author |
Paxson, Christina Schady, Norbert |
| author_facet |
Paxson, Christina Schady, Norbert |
| author_sort |
Paxson, Christina |
| title |
Does Money Matter? The Effects of Cash Transfers on Child Health and Development in Rural Ecuador |
| title_short |
Does Money Matter? The Effects of Cash Transfers on Child Health and Development in Rural Ecuador |
| title_full |
Does Money Matter? The Effects of Cash Transfers on Child Health and Development in Rural Ecuador |
| title_fullStr |
Does Money Matter? The Effects of Cash Transfers on Child Health and Development in Rural Ecuador |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Does Money Matter? The Effects of Cash Transfers on Child Health and Development in Rural Ecuador |
| title_sort |
does money matter? the effects of cash transfers on child health and development in rural ecuador |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2012 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2007/05/7581259/money-matter-effects-cash-transfers-child-health-development-rural-ecuador http://hdl.handle.net/10986/7076 |
| _version_ |
1764401870175993856 |