Social cash transfer programmes in developing countries are often claimed to benefit the empowerment of women, despite a lack of clear evidence supporting this outcome. This report seeks to examine the validity of the claim through a mixed-methods evaluation of the Government of Zambia’s Child Grant Programme; a poverty-targeted, unconditional transfer given to mothers or primary caregivers of young children aged 0 to 5.
The quantitative component found some improvements for instance in the increase of women’s decision-making power within the household. However, the qualitative component also found that such changes were limited by traditional gender norms.
The results of the study are discussed and the paper argues that there is potential for national, poverty-targeted, unconditional, government-run programmes in Africa, to improve the well-being of female beneficiaries. Finally, the paper highlights methodological challenges in using intra-household decision-making as the primary indicator to measure empowerment.
Adapted from authors’ summary.