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Field
Abstract
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Before
Child Collegio Carlo Alberto in cooperation with Ufficio Pio will pilot a conditional cash transfer programme that will focus on providing information set of families with children. We will evaluate the effects of conditional cash transfer methods on the wellbeing of families and children aged 0-6 years.
We are using a different type of condition to those used in the international experiences: the transfer is not dependent on how it is used or its effects, but on exposure to information and guidance that could encourage productive choices for the wellbeing of their family and of children in particular.
The design of the evaluation is such that there will be one control group not receiving any transfer, a first treatment group of families receiving an unconditional cash grant, and a second treatment group receiving the conditional cash transfer. The condition is based on attendance to a series of courses aimed at improving individual labour market opportunities, children human capital accumulation processes, health status etc.
The aim of the study is to measure and explain the effects of conditional cash transfers and participation in educational/training activities on a set of outcomes such as education outcomes and health status of children aged 0-6 years, parents' job-seeking opportunities, the efficient use of time and income etc.
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After
Child Collegio Carlo Alberto in cooperation with Ufficio Pio will pilot a conditional cash transfer programme that will focus on providing information set of families with children. We will evaluate the effects of conditional cash transfer methods on the well-being of families with at least one child aged 0-6 years.
We are using a different type of condition to those used in the international experiences: the transfer is not dependent on how it is used or its effects, but on exposure to information and guidance that could encourage choices potentially tackling poverty and fostering the families' well-being.
The design of the evaluation is such that there will be one control group not receiving any transfer, a first treatment group of families receiving an unconditional cash transfer, and a second treatment group receiving the conditional cash transfer. The condition is based on attendance to a set of courses aimed at improving individual labor market opportunities, household financial conditions, human capital accumulation of family members, children well-being, health status of family members, etc.
The aim of the study is to compare the potential effects of conditional cash transfers (based on the participation in educational/training activities) vs. unconditional cash transfers on a set of outcomes such as labor market outcomes of family members, participation in activities fostering family members' human capital accumulation, family economic and financial situation, use of money, children well-being and development, health related outcomes such as health status and food consumption, etc.
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Last Published
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Before
August 16, 2016 06:15 AM
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After
June 16, 2018 01:29 PM
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Intervention (Public)
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Before
We aim at evaluating the impact of different forms of cash transfers - conditional vs. unconditional - to families below the poverty threshold and with, at least, one child aged 0-6. We exploit an established cash transfer service provided by the Compagnia di San Paolo-Ufficio Pio in one of the main Italian metropolitan areas, namely the Municipality of Turin. The effectiveness of cash transfers is measured in terms of a set of outcomes grouped in the following macro-areas: labor market related outcomes, children education related outcomes, health related outcomes, income related outcomes and social inclusion related outcomes. Each outcome, when applicable, will be measured for each of the household components.
One of the main advantages of our setting is that we are able to compare two different interventions using a very circumscribed - geographically speaking - sample selected in the same urban area. This way we can ensure that pre-treatment groups - control and treatment groups - are similar in almost all the characteristics - both observable (and testable) and unobservable (not testable) - and that also in the period during the treatment all the groups will be potentially hit by the same common shocks.
We split the entire population of applicants into three different groups. A control group, a first treatment group receiving an unconditional cash transfer and a second treatment group receiving a conditional cash transfer. The condition for the last group to receive the cash transfer is the attendance, after the receiving of the first fraction (around 30% of the total amount) of the transfer, to a series of courses aimed at fostering family-labor conciliation, individual labor market knowledge and opportunities, children education and human development related outcomes, financial literacy and the undertaking of healthy and non-risky behaviors.
The cash transfer amount ranges between euro 2500 and euro 3500 according to the number of children in the household. The amount of money received in form of cash transfer is particularly high if we consider that the household selected to participate in the programme reports income particularly low (the average annual ISEE - indicator for the economic situation of the household - is around euro 700).
After a period of 12 months since the entering in the programme, each of the household is interviewed in order to assess information about a set of outcomes potentially affected by the intervention. Each of the outcomes, when applicable, is measured for each member in the household.
The set of outcomes is the following:
-Labor market outcomes: Employment status, time in employment, unemployment status, time in unemployment, wage, weekly hours of work, job satisfaction, enrollment in professional courses, enrollment in course of the Italian language (question for foreigners only) etc.
-Children education outcomes: Childcare enrollment, school enrollment, scholastic performance, scholastic activities, non-scholastic activities, qualitative outcomes, child’s attitude, pro-social behavior etc.
-Health related outcomes: Weight, height, Body Mass Index (BMI), blood pressure, number of visits to the doctor in the last year, general health problems, food consumption, tobacco consumption, alcohol consumption etc.
-Income related outcomes: Household income, amount of taxes paid, arrears in utility bills, monthly house rent, household's properties, household's financial assets, use of internet, newspapers etc.
-Social inclusion: measure of social inclusion, feelings with respect to the rest of the community, blood donations, electoral preference, votes (if applicable), participation to activities etc.
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After
We aim at evaluating the impact of different forms of cash transfers - conditional vs. unconditional - to families below the poverty threshold and with, at least, one child aged 0-6. Conditionality is defined as minimum attendance of a set of courses and training covering topics such as job-seeking, conciliation work and family, use of money, and parenting. The reference population of the experiment is divided into three different groups: a control group (CG), a conditional cash transfer group (CCT: transfer and courses), and an unconditional cash transfer group (UCT: cash transfer). We exploit an established income support program (AOS) provided by the Compagnia di San Paolo-Ufficio Pio in one of the main Italian metropolitan areas, namely the Municipality of Turin. Application to the income support program is voluntary. The cash transfer amounts to euro 2500-3000. Outcomes will be measured 12 months after admission to the program (or rejection for the case of families in the CG).
We investigate set of outcomes potentially affected by the the cash transfer and the topics covered in the courses attended by families in the CCT group. In particular, we focus on the labor market performance of family members, education and training pursued by family members, economic and financial condition of the family, use of money, social inclusion, children's well-being and development outcomes. Each outcome, when applicable, will be measured for each of the household components.
One of the main advantages of our setting is that (i) we are able to compare two different interventions (CCT and UCT) using a very circumscribed population living in the same urban area. This way we can ensure that pre-treatment groups - control and treatment groups - are similar in almost all the characteristics - both observable (and testable) and unobservable (untestable). Moreover, our setting ensures that in the treatment period the three groups groups are potentially hit by the same common shocks.
As anticipated above, we split the entire population of applicants into three different groups. A control group (CG), a first treatment group receiving an unconditional cash transfer (UCT), and a second treatment group receiving a conditional cash transfer (CCT). The three groups have the same initial size: each group is made by around 500 families. The condition for the CCT group to receive the cash transfer is the attendance to a set of courses aimed covering job-seeking, family and work conciliation, use of money, and parenting. Each family is required to attend two courses. The assignment of each family to the two courses - made by 5 meetings lasting 2 hours each - was performed by the Ufficio Pio on the base on an algorithm matching family characteristics with the courses plausibly more related with the specific family needs. The assignment was in any way dependent on family preferences and any reallocation was allowed. In order to get the transfer, each family is required to attend at least 75% of each course.
The families in the CCT will receive the cash transfer in three installments upon attendance of at least two of the four courses previously described. The first installment (euro 500) was provided at the time the family entered the program. The second installment (euro 1,000-1,500) was paid once the family had attended the first course, meaning around three months after admission to the program. The third installment (euro 1,000-1,500) was paid once completed the attendance of the second course, meaning 6 months after admission.
The UCT group will receive the same amount of transfer as the conditional cash transfer group. However, they were not requested to attend any course in order to obtain the transfer. Also for this group the cash transfer was provided through three installments with the exact same timing as the conditional cash transfer group.
The CG, although eligible to receive the treatment, will not receive any cash transfer for the entire period covered by our analysis. We name this group CG.
The final survey administered to all families 12-months after admission to the program will cover topics such as:
-Labor market outcomes: Employment status, time in employment, unemployment status, time in unemployment, wage, weekly hours of work, enrollment in professional courses, training activities, job-seeking activities, etc.
-Income related outcomes: Savings, arrears in utility bills, use of money, financial problems, help by others to deal with expenses, etc
-Social inclusion: use of social media, use of email, use of internet, etc.
-Children outcomes: Use of child care (if applicable), school enrollment (if applicable), behavioral problems, etc.
-Health related outcomes: food consumption, health status, etc.
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Primary Outcomes (End Points)
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Before
-Labor market outcomes
-Children education outcomes
-Health related outcomes
-Income related outcomes
-Social inclusion
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After
-Labor market outcomes
-Job-seeking and training
-Income related outcomes
-Children outcomes
-Health related outcomes
-Social inclusion
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Primary Outcomes (Explanation)
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Before
-Labor market outcomes: Employment status, time in employment, unemployment status, time in unemployment, wage, weekly hours of work, job satisfaction, enrollment in professional courses, enrollment in course of the Italian language (question for foreigners only) etc.
-Children education outcomes: Childcare enrollment, school enrollment, scholastic performance, scholastic activities, non-scholastic activities, qualitative outcomes, child’s attitude, pro-social behavior etc.
-Health related outcomes: Weight, height, Body Mass Index (BMI), blood pressure, number of visits to the doctor in the last year, general health problems, food consumption, tobacco consumption, alcohol consumption etc.
-Income related outcomes: Household income, amount of taxes paid, arrears in utility bills, monthly house rent, household's properties, household's financial assets, use of internet, newspapers etc.
-Social inclusion: measure of social inclusion, feelings with respect to the rest of the community, blood donations, electoral preference, votes (if applicable), participation to activities etc.
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After
-Labor market outcomes: Employment status, time in employment, unemployment status, time in unemployment, wage, weekly hours of work, enrollment in professional courses, training activities, job-seeking activities, etc.
-Income related outcomes: Savings, arrears in utility bills, use of money, financial problems, help by others to deal with expenses, etc
-Social inclusion: use of social media, use of email, use of internet, etc.
-Children outcomes: Use of child care (if applicable), school enrollment (if applicable), behavioral problems, etc.
-Health related outcomes: food consumption, health status, etc.
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Field
Experimental Design (Public)
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Before
We aim at evaluating the impact of different forms of cash transfers - conditional vs. unconditional - to families below the poverty threshold and with, at least, one child aged 0-6.
We split the entire population of eligible applicants into three different groups. A control group, a first treatment group receiving an unconditional cash transfer and a second treatment group receiving a conditional cash transfer.
The condition for the last group to receive the cash transfer is the attendance, after the receiving of the first fraction (around 30% of the total amount) of the transfer, to a series of courses aimed at fostering family-labor conciliation, individual labor market knowledge and opportunities, children education and human development related outcomes, financial literacy and the undertaking of healthy and non-risky behaviors.
After 12 months since the entering in the programme, each household is interviewed - with information collected for each of the household's members - in order to asses and measure the outcomes potentially affected by the cash transfer.
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After
We compare conditional versus unconditional cash transfers in tackling family poverty. The reference population of the experiment is made by those families living below the poverty threshold in the Italian municipality of Turin. The population of families applying for the main income support program in the municipality (AOS) is divided into three different groups: a control group (CG), a conditional cash transfer group (CCT: transfer and courses), and an unconditional cash transfer group (UCT: cash transfer). The cash transfer amounts to euro 2500-3000. Outcomes will be measured 12 months after admission to the program (or rejection for the case of families in the CG).
We investigate set of outcomes potentially affected by the the cash transfer and the topics covered in the courses attended by families in the CCT group. In particular, we focus on the labor market performance of family members, education and training pursued by family members, economic and financial condition of the family, use of money, social inclusion, children's well-being and development outcomes. Each outcome, when applicable, will be measured for each of the household components.
We split the entire population of applicants into three different groups. A control group (CG), a first treatment group receiving an unconditional cash transfer (UCT), and a second treatment group receiving a conditional cash transfer (CCT). The three groups have the same initial size: each group is made by around 500 families. The condition for the CCT group to receive the cash transfer is the attendance to a set of courses aimed covering job-seeking, family and work conciliation, use of money, and parenting. Each family is required to attend two courses. The assignment of each family to the two courses - made by 5 meetings lasting 2 hours each - was performed by the Ufficio Pio on the base on an algorithm matching family characteristics with the courses plausibly more related with the specific family needs. The assignment was in any way dependent on family preferences and any reallocation was allowed. In order to get the transfer, each family is required to attend at least 75% of each course.
The families in the CCT will receive the cash transfer in three installments upon attendance of at least two of the four courses previously described. The first installment (euro 500) was provided at the time the family entered the program. The second installment (euro 1,000-1,500) was paid once the family had attended the first course, meaning around three months after admission to the program. The third installment (euro 1,000-1,500) was paid once completed the attendance of the second course, meaning 6 months after admission.
The UCT group will receive the same amount of transfer as the conditional cash transfer group. However, they were not requested to attend any course in order to obtain the transfer. Also for this group the cash transfer was provided through three installments with the exact same timing as the conditional cash transfer group.
The CG, although eligible to receive the treatment, will not receive any cash transfer for the entire period covered by our analysis. We name this group CG.
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Did you obtain IRB approval for this study?
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Before
No
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After
Yes
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