The Impact of a Conditional Cash Transfer Program on Households' Well-Being

Daniela Del Boca, Chiara Pronzato and Giuseppe Sorrenti

No 559, Carlo Alberto Notebooks from Collegio Carlo Alberto

Abstract: We evaluate the impact of a conditional cash transfer (CCT) program that we designed on family well-being among low-income families with young chil- dren. Although most CCTs have been implemented in low-income countries, our research is in the context of a high-income country, Italy, where the recent economic crises have worsened the conditions of families with children, especially among immigrants. Our objective is to evaluate the introduction of conditionality (attendance of courses) into a pre-existing unconditional cash transfer program. Using a randomized controlled trial, we find that CCT families search more ac- tively for work, and they work more hours and more regularity than the cash transfer and control groups. CCT families also are able to save more money and eat healthier foods. The CCT intervention appears to be more effective than cash transfer alone in changing households' behavior in several dimensions of well-being. Our findings add to the accumulating evidence on the impact of con- ditional cash transfers versus unconditional ones and to the literature concerning multidimensional incentive programs.

Keywords: cash transfers; poverty; use of money; labor supply; parenting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I10 I20 I31 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: pages 40
Date: 2018
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-hea, nep-lma and nep-ltv
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Working Paper: The Impact of a Conditional Cash Transfer Program on Households' Well-Being (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cca:wpaper:559

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