Unconditional government social cash transfer in Africa does not increase fertility

Tia Palermo, Sudhanshu Handa, Amber Peterman, Leah Prencipe and David Seidenfeld
Additional contact information
Sudhanshu Handa: UNICEF Office of Research—Innocenti
Leah Prencipe: UNICEF Office of Research—Innocenti
David Seidenfeld: American Institutes for Research (AIR)

Journal of Population Economics, 2016, vol. 29, issue 4, No 5, 1083-1111

Abstract: Abstract Among policymakers, a common perception surrounding the effects of cash transfer programmes, particularly unconditional programmes targeted to families with children, is that they induce increased fertility. We evaluate the Zambian Child Grant Programme, a government unconditional cash transfer targeted to families with a child under the age of 5 and examine impacts on fertility and household composition. The evaluation was a cluster randomized control trial, with data collected over 4 years from 2010 to 2014. Our results indicate that there are no programme impacts on overall fertility. Our results contribute to a small evidence base demonstrating that there are no unintended incentives related to fertility due to cash transfers.

Keywords: Fertility; Unconditional cash transfers; Zambia; Africa; J1; I1; I3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Working Paper: Unconditional Government Social Cash Transfer in Africa Does not Increase Fertility (2015)
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DOI: 10.1007/s00148-016-0596-x

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