How do intrahousehold dynamics change when assets are transferred to women? Evidence from BRAC’s challenging the frontiers of poverty reduction—targeting the ultra poor program in Bangladesh

Growing evidence shows that the distribution of individuals' ownership and control of assets within a household can have important implications for women’s empowerment and children’s well-being. Interventions that target assets to specific individuals can shift these intrahousehold dynamics, yet little evidence exists from rigorous evaluations. We study BRAC’s Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction—Targeting the Ultra Poor (CFPR-TUP) program in Bangladesh, which targets asset transfer (primarily livestock) and training to rural women in poor households. Previous research has shown large, significant positive program impacts at the household level. In this paper, we examine intrahousehold impacts using mixed methods. We focus on the Specially Targeted Ultra-Poor(STUP) component of the program, which targets households selected following a randomized controlled trial design. Adding a new round of data collection with quantitative sex-disaggregated information and qualitative exploration, we exploit the randomized design to assess intrahousehold impacts of STUP. Our analysis confirms that the program significantly increases household ownership of various assets but has complex effects on the targeted women. Quantitative estimates show increases in women’s sole and joint ownership of or control over transferred assets such as livestock, but a much greater increase in men’s sole ownership over nearly all other assets (including agricultural and nonagricultural productive assets, land, and consumer durables). These findings suggest that while the transferred assets tend to remain with women, new investments from mobilized resources are controlled by men. Moreover, the program reduces women’s mobility outside the home and their control over income, consistent with the transferred asset’s requiring maintenance at home. Qualitative findings are consistent with these quantitative results , but women’s contribution to their households is perceived as increasing their confidence and social capital, which they themselves value. Therefore, while provision of assets and training to women has ambiguous effects on women’s empowerment in terms of tangible assets and decisionmaking, women take intangibles into account and largely perceive positive (though still mixed) effects. The analysis shows that asset transfer targeted to women can increase women’s ownership of and control over the transferred asset itself but may not necessarily increase women’s intrahousehold bargaining position. Moreover, it reveals that outcomes valued by individuals may not always be tangible, highlighting the complexity of assessing whether interventions improve women’s empowerment

Does Parental Unemployment Affect the Quality of Their Children's First Job?

In this paper the relationship between parental unemployment at time of children's labor market entrance on the quality of their children's first job is analyzed. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) for the years 1991-2012 the quality of the first job in terms of wage, permanent position and full-time employment is examined. The results show a negative correlation between fathers' unemployment at the time of children's labor market entrance and their children's first wage, while no significant relation can be found for unemployment or labor market inactivity of mothers.Dieses Papier analysiert die Bedeutung des Erwerbstatus der Eltern für die Qualität der ersten Beschäftigung von Berufseinsteigern auf Basis der Daten des sozio-ökonomischen Panels. Gegenstand der Untersuchung bilden die elterliche Erwerbslosigkeit zum Zeitpunkt des Arbeitsmarkteintritts und drei verschiedene Qualitätsindikatoren des ersten Jobs (erster Lohn; unbefristeter Vertrag; Vollzeitbeschäftigung). Die empirische Untersuchung zeigt einen negativen Zusammenhang zwischen väterlicher Erwerbslosigkeit und dem ersten Lohn des Kindes. Der negative Zusammenhang ist Hinweis darauf, dass junge Berufseinsteiger im Falle väterlicher Erwerbslosigkeit einen niedrigeren Lohn akzeptieren im Vergleich zu Berufseinsteigern arbeitender Väter. Eine mögliche Begründung dafür ist das Bedürfnis zeitnah in den Arbeitsmarkt einzutreten, um das gesunkene Haushaltseinkommen zu kompensieren. Die Betrachtung der mütterlichen Erwerbslosigkeit scheint keine relevanten Auswirkungen zu haben. Resümierend weisen die Ergebnisse der Studie darauf hin, dass der dringliche Bedarf besteht, Kinder erwerbsloser Väter in politische Maßnahmen zu integrieren, um den Arbeitsmarkteintritt erfolgreich zu gestalten

Poverty Dynamics and Programme Graduation from Social Protection. A Transitional Model for Mexico's Oportunidades Programme

Social protection programmes have emerged as one of the most important anti-poverty policy strategies in developing countries. Their effects on poverty and well-being have been widely studied. Yet, there is limited knowledge on how a transfer programme should respond to the dynamics of poverty. This paper contributes to the existing literature on social protection by providing an analysis of the implications of poverty dynamics for the graduation of beneficiaries of Mexico's Oportunidades programme. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that provides a framework for a generic graduation condition, to the extent that it can be applied to any other transfer programme with means tests or proxy-means tests. By estimating a Markovian transition model that accounts for unobserved heterogeneity, state dependence, and attrition, and using three rounds of the longitudinal Mexican Family Life Survey, we find that Oportunidades could 'graduate' only 28.9 and 26.7 per cent of beneficiary households in urban and rural areas, respectively. Our results also show that the 'recertification' or eligibility assessment of Oportunidades - which takes place every three years - could be optimized by conducting it every 3.5 and 4.1 years in urban and rural areas, respectively