This study examines the impacts of an unconditional cash transfer programme on cocoa-growing households in Ghana. The pilot project, set up as a randomized control trial, aimed to test whether cash transfers can help reduce hazardous child labour. It also examines what other impacts cash transfers have on children and their families in this context.
Key findings:
- Cash transfers allowed households to build up wealth and made them more resilient to adverse events such as illness or income loss. Such shocks were experienced by around two thirds of the households in the sample; but were much less likely to translate into situations of stress if the household received a cash transfer.
- Cash transfers reduced the prevalence of hazardous child labour by 9.3 percentage points, a reduction of 20%. We cannot see a significant effect on the severity of child labour.
- Children's material wellbeing improved, as measured by basic material needs items owned by a child.
- The cash transfers protected children against adverse events experienced by the household and prevented households from using child labour to cope with unexpected negative events.
View a presentation of key findings.
Read the report: Cash transfers, resilience and child labour in Ghana
