Interrupting the intergenerational cycle of poverty with the Malawi Social Cash Transfer

Abstract

Cash transfer programs throughout the world were designed within a Social Protection framework to alleviate poverty in the short term and to interrupt the long-term intergenerational cycle of poverty. In this study, we examine the potential of the Malawi Social Cash Transfer Scheme (SCTS) to interrupt the intergenerational cycle of poverty in ultra-poor and labor-constrained households in Malawi. Using qualitative data from 16 focus groups with 163 children, we map the voices of children to various dimensions in a framework of intergenerational poverty. The framework identifies financial, material, environmental, human, social, cultural and political capital as important inputs for older generations to transfer to younger ones in order to avoid lifelong poverty. We found that focus-group participants reported dramatic and widespread changes in their lives resulting from the cash transfer in nearly all of the framework's dimensions. Participants reported that the cash allowed them to gain access to goods and materials, including food, healthcare, school supplies, clothing, blankets, housing and livestock. Respondents described changes in their lives, such as providing less labor for the household, allocating more time to schooling, enjoying adequate and high-quality foods, accessing healthcare and purchasing medicine. They also described better mental health, with new hopes and dreams for the future. These changes have the potential to interrupt the intergenerational cycle of poverty. Nevertheless, despite these widespread and positive benefits to children, whether the SCTS will become part of the national policy, and the scheme's long-term sustainability, is still uncertain.

Keywords:

• cash transfer
• social protection
• intergenerational poverty
• children
• Malawi

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Child and Family Applied Research grant and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) for financing this evaluation. Neither of the study's funders played any role in data collection, analysis or interpretation in preparing or submitting this manuscript for publication. Staff and consultants with UNICEF Malawi contributed to the study design, but the principal investigator made all final decisions on the study. We wish to thank the Mchinji District Assembly, the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development, the Ministry of Women and Child and Development and members of the National Social Protection Technical Committee for their ongoing cooperation and thoughtful questions and making this study possible. We deeply appreciate the time and contributions from all the study respondents. The authors also wish to thank the data collection team in Malawi for their tireless effort during all rounds of data collection.