The impact of unconditional cash transfers on nutrition

The South African Child Support Grant (CSG)

By: JM Aguero, MR Carter & I Woolard
Published by: UNDP International Poverty Centre, 2007
Via: Eldis

This paper estimates the impact of South Africa’s Child Support Grant (CSG) on child nutrition as measured by child height-for-age. It finds that large dosages of CSG treatment early in life significantly boosts child height. While income transfers such as those of the CSG should help immediately to redress poverty, the question remains whether they help facilitate a longer-term pathway from poverty.

One way that they might contribute to this goal is by enhancing the durable human capital stock of the next generation. These estimated height gains observed in the case of South Africa suggest large adult earnings increases for treated children and a discounted rate of return on CSG payments of between 160-230 per cent.

(http://www.undp-povertycentre.org/pub/IPCWorkingPaper39.pdf)