Researching the Linkages Between Social Protection and Children's Care in Rwanda: The VUP and its Effects on Child Well-Being, Care, and Family Reunification

This research investigates the links between the Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme (VUP), child well-being, children's care and family reunification. It is part of a wider study on the linkages between social protection and children's care in Rwanda, Ghana and South Africa.The research is a joint initiative by Family for Every Child and the Centre for Social Protection (CSP) at the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) in the UK. Uyisenga Ni Imanzi, a Rwandan NGO and member of Family for Every Child, led the research in Rwanda.This qualitative study addresses three overarching questions:What are the linkages between social protection and the quality of children's care?What is the link between social protection and the loss of parental care or family separation?How does social protection influence decisions about foster or kinship care?The sample for this study includes more than 120 adults and 90 children from Rwabicuma and Kibilizi sectors in Nyanza district, Southern Province. Participants included programme staff, programme participants and community members.This series will also include reports from Ghana and South Africa by Spring 201

Household trajectories in rural Ethiopia – what can a mixed method approach tell us about the impact of poverty on children?

The paper explores the dynamics of child and household poverty in rural Ethiopia using three rounds of household survey and qualitative data collected by Young Lives, a longitudinal study of child poverty. It uses a mixed-method taxonomy of poverty (Roelen and Camfield 2011) to classify children and their households into four groups: ultra-poor, poor, near-poor and non-poor. Survey and qualitative data are then used to analyse the movements in and out of poverty and explore the factors that underpin these movements. The use of mixed methods in both the identification of the poor and analysis of their mobility illustrates that the combined use of qualitative and quantitative information can lead to deeper insights and understandings. The paper reports a reduction in the percentage of poor households from 50 to 20 percent between rounds 1 and 3 (2002-9), following the ‘stages of progress’ posited in Roelen and Camfield (2011). However, these changes were not unequivocally beneficial to children (for example, the acquisition of livestock might mean dropping out of school to herd them). Ultra-poverty proved persistent with little change in the circumstances of the one in ten households classified as ultra-poor, who were vulnerable to illness, lending or ‘sharecropping-out’ land on unfavourable terms and exclusion from the government’s food-for-work scheme

Reducing poverty in the first 18 years of life: monetary and multidimensional child poverty in Vietnam

This research brief presents findings from a mixed methods research project on monetary and multidimensional child poverty in Vietnam. It uses data from the Vietnam Household Living Standards Surveys 2004, 2006, 2008 and purposively collected qualitative data from 78 children and 145 adults in Mekong River Delta Region to understand patterns and drivers of monetary and multidimensional child poverty. In particular it aims to understand why some children may be multidimensionally poor despite living in a household that is not monetary poor and vice versa.ESR

Reducing all Forms of Child Poverty: The Need for Comprehensive Measurement

Despite widespread investments in child poverty reduction, the way in which child poverty is measured presents a narrow and partial picture. Current practice is still biased towards measuring static and single dimensions of child poverty, primarily using monetary indicators as a proxy to capture other areas of deprivation. This limits the understanding of underlying causes that keep children trapped in poverty and what needs to be done to reduce all forms of child poverty. Research in Ethiopia and Vietnam explored the extent to which living in an income-poor household also means that a child experiences poor child wellbeing and vice versa, and investigated reasons for why some children experience good child wellbeing despite living in an income-poor household and vice versa

The ‘Twofold Investment Trap’: Children and their Role in Sustainable Graduation

Despite the overall aim of graduation to lift people out of poverty in the long term, programmes remain largely focused on achieving short? to medium?term change. This article postulates that graduation programmes should be more aspirational as graduation can only be truly sustainable when it is an intergenerational process. This requires greater consideration of the role of children in graduation programmes as households with children face an inter?temporal decision?making dilemma that places them in a ‘twofold investment trap’; households are required to manage resources available from (1) adult household members and (2) children, and seek an optimal allocation of resources between investments in livelihoods and in child wellbeing. Available evidence shows that this is an almost impossible balancing act. This article proposes conceptual and programmatic considerations to ensure that graduation programmes take full account of the situation of households with children and thereby work towards sustainable and intergenerational graduation

Stopping child poverty in its tracks : the role for social protection in Vietnam

A specific focus on children has been called for within the development and social protection debates, for moral, economic, rights and social justice reasons. This paper explores the role for social protection in reducing child poverty in the specific case of Vietnam. Although the country has experienced rapid economic growth with a concurrent rise in living standards, inequalities are widespread across demographic and social groups and deprivation persists in both income and non-income dimensions. Currently, social protection in Vietnam includes both social insurance and social assistance interventions. An indicative review indicates, however, that their impact on child poverty is limited with eligibility being biased towards the public sector, formal labour market and war veterans. Although various components of the social assistance scheme are more poverty-targeted, evidence does not suggest a strong beneficial impact on children’s lives. Furthermore, there are considerable gaps with respect to transformative elements that could help address some of the structural inequalities in society. Lessons learned from the poverty analysis suggest that efforts should be directed towards better targeting and expanding services to vulnerable groups such as ethnic minorities or children living in singleheaded households. Cash transfers may reduce child poverty when complemented with other measures that directly address the non-monetary aspects of child poverty and vulnerability. The impact of preventive interventions and social insurance could be improved by extending coverage to those in the private and informal sectors and reducing or eliminating user fees. Ultimately, conventional social protection interventions should go hand in hand with improvements in social services, infrastructure and legal frameworks. Keywords: social protection; child poverty; Vietnam

Reducing poverty in the first 18 years of life: monetary and multi-dimensional child poverty in Ethiopia

This research brief presents findings from a mixed methods research project on monetary and multidimensional child poverty in Ethiopia. It uses data from the Ethiopia Rural Household Surveys (ERHS) 1999, 2004, 2009 and purposively collected qualitative data from 61 children and 88 adults in Tigray region to understand patterns and drivers of monetary and multidimensional child poverty. In particular it aims to understand why some children may be multi-dimensionally poor despite living in a household that is not monetary poor and vice versa.ESR

Reducing poverty in the first 18 years of life: Burundi

This research was funded by ESRC grant ES-K001833-1 and supported by Concern Worldwide.This illustration presents combined findings from a research project on monetary and multidimensional child poverty and the evaluation of Concern Worldwide’s ‘Terintambwe’ programme in Burundi. It is based on information from survey data collected for the Concern programme evaluation in December 2013 and April 2015 and on discussions with 40 children and 91 adults in Cibitoke and Kirundo provinces from March to May 2015. The Terintambwe programme was implemented over a period of two years to help the poorest households with cash transfers and training on how to set up income generating activities. Households also received health insurance cards for all members, more general training and home visits by case workers regarding hygienic practices, nutrition and gender equality and support in setting up kitchen gardens. This comprehensive package of support has the potential to improve both household wealth and child wellbeing. This research tries to understand how household wealth overlaps with child wellbeing and to what extent improvements in household wealth go hand-in-hand with improvements in child wellbeing.ESRC ES-K001833-

Real Time Monitoring in Romania: Part of the Bigger Picture

In 2009–10, a Rapid Assessment of the Social and Poverty Impacts of the Economic Crisis was undertaken in Romania to gain timely and in?depth information about the impact of the crisis on particular groups in society. This article assesses the use of a rapid assessment as a Real Time Monitoring (RTM) tool and more broadly discusses the value of RTM in a middle?country context with a myriad of existing data collection and monitoring systems. Findings suggest that a rapid assessment can prove a cost?efficient and valuable tool if the appropriate research expertise and experience is available. The assessment of micro? and macro?level challenges in the education, health and child protection sectors points towards the importance of RTM initiatives being embedded within the wider data collection and monitoring systems. The translation of data and reports into policy influence and impact emerged as a recurrent theme in this study

Shame, Poverty and Social Protection

Despite long-standing conceptual considerations of shame in understanding poverty and debates about its moral, social and emotional qualities, the role of shame in poverty reduction policies remains largely unexplored. Notions of shame or mechanisms leading to shame – such as stigma or lack of dignity or respect – feature in many studies and policy evaluations, yet few studies have considered the interaction between shame, poverty and policy as its core focus. This paper has two objectives: Firstly, it aims to provide a conceptual framework for understanding the interactions between shame, poverty and policy. Shame is considered to be both intrinsic and instrumental to poverty; shame undermines the human right to dignity and respect and subjective wellbeing and also represents a capability deprivation or a breakdown in conversion factors (impeding the conversion from capabilities into functionings). Secondly, the paper explores these interactions with a focus on social protection and welfare policy. Given the universal nature of the ‘shame–poverty nexus’ and the majority of research on shame originating from Europe and the US, the paper focuses its review on low and middle-income countries but will also draw from literature in high-income countries. The paper concludes with reflections on next steps for research and policy in reference to shame in relation to poverty and poverty reduction policies. These include the need for clarity of language, the need to move beyond the ‘shamee’ and ‘shamer’ dichotomy, and the need for exploration of policy options