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Long run educational and spillover effects of unconditional cash transfers: Evidence from South Africa

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  • Mostert, Cyprian Mcwayizeni
  • Vall Castello, Judit

Abstract

Cash transfer (CT) policy is promoted as an important financial vehicle to address household poverty and bring positive societal development. This study investigates the impact of an unconditional CT policy on children’s education outcomes focusing on both the primary and secondary phases of education. We also examine the spillover effect of CT policy on parents’ employment. To identify these effects we focus on South Africa and exploit the changes in age eligibility requirements of the CT policy to build credible control and treatment groups based on birth cohort. Our results show that CT policy improves reading and writing abilities at both the primary (by 3.7% and 3.3% respectively) and secondary education levels (by 10.2% and 10.1%, respectively) but it fosters school attendance only in secondary education. We also provide evidence that, for primary education students, the effects are only significant for boys. Notably, the positive effects of CT programs are also confirmed by the presence of spillover effects to other members of the family in our observance of increases in both mothers’ and fathers’ employment outcomes (by 35% and 34%, respectively). Therefore, in this paper we provide robust evidence that unconditional CT policy supports resilient development of the country’s population in several dimensions that go beyond the educational achievement of targeted children.

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  • Mostert, Cyprian Mcwayizeni & Vall Castello, Judit, 2020. "Long run educational and spillover effects of unconditional cash transfers: Evidence from South Africa," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 36(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:36:y:2020:i:c:s1570677x18303575
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2019.100817
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    Cited by:

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    2. Cirera, Laia & Castelló, Judit Vall & Brew, Joe & Saúte, Francisco & Sicuri, Elisa, 2022. "The impact of a malaria elimination initiative on school outcomes: Evidence from Southern Mozambique," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    3. Fabianna Bacil & Wesley Silva, 2020. "Social protection coverage—Sudan case study," Research Report 52, International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth.
    4. de Milliano, Marlous & Barrington, Clare & Angeles, Gustavo & Gbedemah, Christiana, 2021. "Crowding-out or crowding-in? Effects of LEAP 1000 unconditional cash transfer program on household and community support among women in rural Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    5. Dong, Shizheng & Zhang, Zili & Han, Yiduo & Si, Yanwu, 2023. "Do pension subsidies reduce household education expenditure inequality? Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 532-540.
    6. Liu, Zijun & Chen, Sheng & Tang, Tingting & Luo, Hang & Guan, Qinghao, 2024. "How public education investment and advanced human capital structure affect regional innovation: A spatial econometric analysis from the perspective of innovation value chain," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    7. Nicky Pouw & Katja Bender, 2022. "The Poverty Reduction Effect of Social Protection: The Pros and Cons of a Multidisciplinary Approach," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(5), pages 2204-2223, October.
    8. Chong, Zhi Zheng & Lau, Siew Yee, 2023. "A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Educational Effects of Unconditional Cash Transfers," MPRA Paper 113587, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Xiaodong Zheng & Shuangyue Shangguan & Zheng Shen & Hualei Yang, 2023. "Social Pensions and Children’s Educational Outcomes: The Case of New Rural Pension Scheme in China," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 502-521, June.

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