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Income Transfers and Maternal Health: Evidence from a National Randomized Social Cash Transfer Program in Zambia

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  • Sudhanshu Handa
  • Amber Peterman
  • David Seidenfeld
  • Gelson Tembo

Abstract

There is promising recent evidence that poverty‐targeted social cash transfers have potential to improve maternal health outcomes; however, questions remain surrounding design features responsible for impacts. In addition, virtually no evidence exists from the African region. This study explores the impact of Zambia's Child Grant Program on a range of maternal health utilization outcomes using a randomized design and difference‐in‐differences multivariate regression from data collected over 24 months from 2010 to 2012. Results indicate that while there are no measurable program impacts among the main sample, there are heterogeneous impacts on skilled attendance at birth among a sample of women residing in households having better access to maternal health services. The latter result is particularly interesting because of the overall low level of health care availability in program areas suggesting that dedicated program design or matching supply‐side interventions may be necessary to leverage unconditional cash transfers in similar settings to impact maternal health. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Sudhanshu Handa & Amber Peterman & David Seidenfeld & Gelson Tembo, 2016. "Income Transfers and Maternal Health: Evidence from a National Randomized Social Cash Transfer Program in Zambia," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(2), pages 225-236, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:25:y:2016:i:2:p:225-236
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.3136
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Fernandez, Luisa & Olfindo, Rosechin, 2011. "Overview of the Philippines'conditional cash transfer program : the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (Pantawid Pamilya)," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 69422, The World Bank.
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    6. Verónica Amarante & Marco Manacorda & Edward Miguel & Andrea Vigorito, 2016. "Do Cash Transfers Improve Birth Outcomes? Evidence from Matched Vital Statistics, Program, and Social Security Data," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 8(2), pages 1-43, May.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Cooper, Jan E. & Benmarhnia, Tarik & Koski, Alissa & King, Nicholas B., 2020. "Cash transfer programs have differential effects on health: A review of the literature from low and middle-income countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    3. Richard Groot & Tia Palermo & Sudhanshu Handa & Luigi Peter Ragno & Amber Peterman, 2017. "Themed Issue: Cash Transfers and Microfinance," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 35(5), pages 621-643, September.
    4. Alan de Brauw & Amber Peterman, 2020. "Can conditional cash transfers improve maternal health care? Evidence from El Salvador's Comunidades Solidarias Rurales program," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(6), pages 700-715, June.
    5. Pal, Soumya, 2021. "Weather Shock, Agricultural Productivity and Infant Health: A Tale of Environmental Injustice," GLO Discussion Paper Series 965, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    6. Okeke, Edward N. & Abubakar, Isa S., 2020. "Healthcare at the beginning of life and child survival: Evidence from a cash transfer experiment in Nigeria," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    7. Vedavati Patwardhan, 2023. "The impact of the Mamata conditional cash transfer program on child nutrition in Odisha, India," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(9), pages 2127-2146, September.
    8. Fink, Günther & Venkataramani, Atheendar S. & Zanolini, Arianna, 2021. "Early life adversity, biological adaptation, and human capital: evidence from an interrupted malaria control program in Zambia," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).

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