Have cash transfers succeeded in reaching the poor in Latin America and the Caribbean?

We present original estimates of the quality of targeting of conditional cash transfer (CCT) and non‐contributory pension (NCP) programmes in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our contribution is novel because we use both national and international poverty lines; provide differentiated estimates for urban and rural areas; and compare the CCT and NCP programmes. We show that leakage to the non‐poor coexists with pervasive under‐coverage of all poor, including the extreme poor. On average, the CCTs cover only 50.5% of the extreme poor in households with children under 18 years of age. Similarly, the NCPs cover only 50.9% of the extreme poor in households with elderly members who do not receive a contributory pension. At the same time, 40.4% of CCT beneficiaries and 50.1% of NCP beneficiaries are not poor, highlighting the potential need for re‐targeting and re‐certification. In most countries, re‐targeting could produce a substantial double benefit in terms of poverty reduction and fiscal savings.     

Intergenerational Housing: The Case of Humanitas Netherlands

We analyze a case study of an innovative intergenerational housing arrangement in the Netherlands as an example of how a local long-term elderly care practice evolved in response to contemporary challenges. Identified elements of the established local practice relate to the characteristics and strategies of an institutional entrepreneur and elements of the new practice that comes into being, in which reciprocity and mutual learning have a central place. These elements might benefit future elderly housing initiatives as well.     

Respect in intergenerational relationships: Young adult women’s motivations

Care and respect are two sides of the same coin, yet very little is known about respect shown by younger women in relation to people aged 60 and older. This study sets out to explore what motivates young adult women to respect older people. Twenty-five post-graduate women from a tertiary education institution in South Africa participated in the Mmogo-method®, a projective visual data-collection method, to produce textual and visual data. These were analysed using sequential and visual analysis. Findings reported combinations of motivational types for respect of older people, on a continuum from extrinsic (socialised normative values) to intrinsic (personal choice and empathy), and from conditional to unconditional, namely: extrinsic/conditional; extrinsic/unconditional; self-motivated/conditional and self-motivated/unconditional. Respect as an impact on relational interactions between people is either constructive and encouraging or damaging and disparaging. Interpersonal risks are associated with motivation and this could affect future interactions and manifestations of intergenerational respect.     

Incentives Programs for Girl Children in India: Global Experiences,Local Reflections

ABSTRACT

Success of incentive transfers programs in South America has encouraged policymakers in India to adopt similar demand-driven approaches to reward behaviors that invest in girls and eventually change negative cultural attitudes toward them. Embrace of this approach, however, needs to be nuanced by a closer scrutiny of the gendered impact of such programs; an understanding of the differential sociocultural and public policy contexts; and a questioning of the design of the incentive transfer programs in India. Despite their political uptake, such programs address the practical needs of girls and women while neglecting their strategic interests. Furthermore, without adequate critical engagement, the programs can have unintended consequence of reinforcing gender stereotypes. Rather than importing developmental shortcuts, India should turn its gaze inward to supply-side interventions and homegrown mobilization experiences of the women’s movement.     

Generations learning together: pilot study for a multigenerational program

Generations need to spend time in meaningful activities to facilitate more healthy interactions. An interdisciplinary team worked together to implement an enriching, intergenerational project with 4 year olds, college students, and older adults. College students played an active role in planning/facilitating activities. The overall objective of the research was assessing perceptional change between the generations using pre/posttests with college students, pre-post interviews with older adults, and pre-post teacher led discussions with children. Findings suggest that older adults and college students had improved perceptions. Children’s perceptions remained negative with some positive perceptions.     

Intergenerational Programs and Practices in China: Results Based on a Web Search Method

ABSTRACT

In the midst of an aging population trend and increased concerns about elder care, the Chinese government has developed policies that aim to strengthen family support systems and ensure older adult engagement in community life. One domain of related intervention that has received relatively little attention and systematic study in China is in the area of intergenerational programming. To gain a sense of the breadth and types of intergenerational programs emerging in China, the authors employed a web search method utilizing Google and Baidu search engines. Findings indicate a fair amount of program innovation and diversity as well as a need for additional programmatic and policy measures to strengthen and support intergenerational relationships in family and community contexts.     

The Impact of Living with an Elder Parent on Adult Daughter's Labor Supply and Hours of Work

A pooled cross-sectional sample compiled from eleven years of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics is used to compare the impact of individual and household characteristics on labor supply probabilities and work hours of adult daughters in two types of households: (a) households in which adult daughters co-reside with elder parents; and (b) households in which adult daughters have living elder parents, but they do not co-reside with elder parents. Labor market entry and market work hours of co-residing daughters are impacted by both the presence and the characteristics of their elder parent. The daughter's age, race, and work experience have differential impacts on labor supply probabilities for co-residing daughters compared to those not co-residing. The daughters' work experience, non-wage income, family composition, and local unemployment rates have differential impacts on the number of hours of work in the two types of households.     

Why Do African Households Give Hospitality to Relatives?

This empirical article describes a widespread African phenomenon—hospitality given to relatives—and explains why African households often provide long-term hospitality. A budget and consumption survey carried out in Gabon in 1994 is used to compare the characteristics of households that provide hospitality and the characteristics of guests and the members of nuclear households. A two-step procedure is proposed to determine whether hospitality decisions are made mainly by heads of household or by the extended family. The data suggest that hospitality decisions are made partly by the extended family.     

Consequences of Parental Divorce for Adult Children’s Support of Their Frail Parents

Using three waves of data from the Health and Retirement Study, I examined the association of parental divorce and remarriage with the odds that biological, adult children give personal care and financial assistance to their frail parents. The analysis included 5,099 adult children in the mother sample and 4,029 children in the father sample. Results indicate that adult children of divorced parents are just as likely as adult children of widowed parents to give care and money to their mothers, but the former are less likely than the latter to care for their fathers. The findings suggest that divorced fathers are prone to be the population most in need of formal support in old age.     

A Regional Multiplier Approach to Estimating the Impact of Cash Transfers on the Market: The Case of Cash Transfers in Rural Malawi

This article analyses the impact on the local economy of an emergency cash–transfer programme in rural Malawi. The results are of interest, given the growing use of cash transfers as development aid as well as the increasing popularity of such transfers as a form of social protection across sub–Saharan Africa. It uses a form of social accounting matrix to show that there are widespread benefits for the regional economy as a whole (with multiplier estimates of 2.02 to 2.45), especially during the most ‘lean’ periods of the year, and for small farmers and small businesses in particular, as this is where poorer households' purchases are focused; education and health also benefit.