Grandfathers and Grandsons: SHould Transfers be Targeted to Women?

This paper uses the introduction of an unconditional cash transfer to older adults in Mexico City to test whether the gender of the person who receives money transfers affects household expenditures and children’s school enrollment. We conclude, as most of the existing literature on this topic has, that households cannot be treated as unitary entities. Some specific results, however, differ from the literature. While money in the hands of women has a higher impact on household expenditures on children and education, it does not affect the probability that children will enroll in school. On the other hand, money distributed to men does not increase schooling expenditures, but it does have a strong and positive effect on children’s school enrollment. We conclude that targeting cash transfers to women may not be an optimal strategy when they are aimed at improving some specific children’s outcomes.