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1.
Revista Katálysis ; 26(1):21-31, 2023.
Article in English | ProQuest Central | ID: covidwho-20239290

ABSTRACT

Este artigo apresenta resultados parciais de uma investigação em desenvolvimento por pesquisadores de universidades brasileiras, argentinas e uruguaias. Os programas de transferência de renda são vistos como medidas sociais para mitigar a pobreza, bem como para diminuir o aumento do desemprego, do trabalho informal e do desperdício de renda. A metodologia de pesquisa foram estudos bibliográficos e documentais;dados secundários;acesso a sites e dados da Comissão Econômica para a América Latina e o Caribe. A discussão enfoca concepções, modalidades e o debate sobre Programas Focalizados de Transferência de Renda e Renda Básica Universal como referência para discutir a realidade dos programas de transferência de renda na América Latina e Caribe. Os resultados apontaram para a ampliação dos programas focalizados de transferência de renda;criação de programas emergenciais para atender as consequências econômicas e sociais geradas pela pandemia de Covid-19, mas não foi identificada a implementação da Renda Básica Universal e Incondicional.Alternate :Este artículo presenta resultados parciales de una investigación en desarrollo por investigadores de universidades brasileñas, argentinas y uruguayas. Los programas de transferencias monetarias son vistos como medidas sociales para mitigar la pobreza, así como para disminuir el aumento del desempleo, el trabajo informal y el desperdicio de ingresos. La metodología de investigación fueron estudios bibliográficos y documentales;Datos secundarios;acceso a sitios web y datos de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe. La discusión se centra en las concepciones, modalidades y el debate sobre los Programas de Transferencias Monetarias Focalizadas y la Renta Básica Universal como referencia para discutir la realidad de los programas de transferencias monetarias en América Latina y el Caribe. Los resultados señalaron la ampliación de los programas de transferencias monetarias focalizadas;creación de programas de emergencia para atender las consecuencias económicas y sociales generadas por la pandemia del Covid-19, pero no se identificó la implementación de la Renta Básica Universal e Incondicional.Alternate :This article presents partial results of an investigation under development by researchers at Brazilian, Argentine and Uruguayan Universities. The cash transfer programs are seen as social measures to mitigate poverty, as well as to decrease the rise of unemployment, informal work and waste of income. The research methodology were bibliographic and documental studies;secondary data;access to websites and data from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. The discuss focus on conceptions, modalities and the debate on Focalized Cash Transfer Programs and Universal Basic Income as reference to discuss the reality of cash transfer programs in Latin America and the Caribbean. The outcomes pointed out the enlargement of the focalized cash transfer programs;creation of emergence programs to meet the economic and social consequences generated by the Covid-19 pandemic, but it was not identified the implementation of the Universal and Unconditional Basic Income.

2.
International Journal of Health Policy and Management ; 12(1), 2023.
Article in English | Scopus | ID: covidwho-2314654

ABSTRACT

Achieving the targets of eliminating tuberculosis (TB) requires a combination of biomedical, epidemiological, and social approaches. Having hitted by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic which diminishes the financial capacity of TB-affected households, the importance of delivering socioeconomic support to TB-affected household emerges. However, the evidence of TB-related socioeconomic support is still scarce, and some questions are left unanswered. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods study by Dave and Rupani shows that the direct benefit transfer (DBT), a form of cash transfer, to TB-affected households improves TB treatment outcomes in India despite the challenges. Some critical issues remain to be discussed: trading-off between the amount of cash and its sustainability, choosing the most appropriate support packages, detecting, and reaching the target population, and arranging the most effective delivery strategy. Knowledge gap remains to be answered, and a global research agenda and political commitment are critical to encourage more evidence in delivering socioeconomic support for TB control. © 2023 The Author(s);Published by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

3.
Global Mental Health ; 10 (no pagination), 2023.
Article in English | EMBASE | ID: covidwho-2294799

ABSTRACT

Mental health is inextricably linked to both poverty and future life chances such as education, skills, labour market attachment and social function. Poverty can lead to poorer mental health, which reduces opportunities and increases the risk of lifetime poverty. Cash transfer programmes are one of the most common strategies to reduce poverty and now reach substantial proportions of populations living in low- and middle-income countries. Because of their rapid expansion in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, they have recently gained even more importance. Recently, there have been suggestions that these cash transfers might improve youth mental health, disrupting the cycle of disadvantage at a critical period of life. Here, we present a conceptual framework describing potential mechanisms by which cash transfer programmes could improve the mental health and life chances of young people. Furthermore, we explore how theories from behavioural economics and cognitive psychology could be used to more specifically target these mechanisms and optimise the impact of cash transfers on youth mental health and life chances. Based on this, we identify several lines of enquiry and action for future research and policy.Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press.

4.
Climate Policy ; 2023.
Article in English | Scopus | ID: covidwho-2250135

ABSTRACT

In the last decades several Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs) have been implemented to interrupt the intergenerational transmission of poverty. More recently, they have also been used as a policy response to provide support to households hit by the COVID crisis. CCTs are being deployed as a development tool to reduce local communities' vulnerability, increasing their resilience and capacity to adapt. In this context, this paper investigates if CCTs can reduce vulnerability to climate change by increasing the adaptative capacity of local communities. Indeed, while some literature has found that CCTs can reduce specific dimensions of vulnerability to socio-economic shocks, we argue that more research is necessary to understand their impact on vulnerability to climate change. Empirically, we use a panel of household survey data collected in Colombia in 2002 and 2006. We employ a difference-in-differences approach to analyse the impact of the CCT programme Familia en Acción (FA) CCTs on rural households. We consider seven components of vulnerability linked to climate change aggregated in an index: wealth, health, access to information, access to basic facilities, financial vulnerability, resilience to natural disasters, and nutrition. Our results differ from previous research and indicate that CCTs provided by the FA program do not decrease vulnerability to climate change. This finding suggests that CCTs are not a universal solution to reducing vulnerability to climate change and may be ineffective in specific contexts. Key policy insights: The literature often assumes that CCTs can have a mitigating effect on vulnerability to climate change. Our research shows that in the context of Colombia, this assumption is incorrect. The idea that providing monthly payments to households can reduce vulnerability to climate change should be considered with caution, given limited empirical evidence. Policy makers and scholars should consider the multidimensional nature of vulnerability and design targeted interventions and avoid considering CCTs as a panacea to all aspects of vulnerability to climate change. Our models show that the FA programme failed to have a significant impact in reducing vulnerability to climate change using several different specifications. We show that CCTs do not have an impact on numerous essential components such as wealth, health, access to infrastructure, information and knowledge, financial coping mechanisms, food consumption, and exposure to natural disasters. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

5.
J Econ Behav Organ ; 208: 140-155, 2023 Apr.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2256541

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the impacts of emergency cash-transfers on individuals' social distancing behaviour and beliefs about COVID-19. We focus on the impacts of "Auxilio Emergencial" (AE): a large-scale cash-transfer in Brazil targeting low-income individuals who were unemployed or informally employed during the pandemic. To identify causal effects we exploit exogenous variation, arising from the AE design, in individuals' access to the cash-transfer programme. Using data from an online survey, our results suggest that eligibility to the emergency cash transfer led to a reduced likelihood of individuals contracting COVID-19, likely to have been driven by a reduction in working hours. Moreover, the cash transfer seems to have increased perceptions about the seriousness of coronavirus, while also exacerbating misconceptions about the pandemic. These findings indicate effects of emergency cash-transfers in determining individuals' narratives about a pandemic, in enabling social distancing and potentially in reducing the spread of the disease.

6.
Popul Res Policy Rev ; 42(2): 22, 2023.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2273852

ABSTRACT

The policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic varied widely between countries. Understanding how effective these responses were is important to improve preparedness for future crises. This paper investigates how one of largest scale conditional cash transfer COVID relief policies in the world-the Brazilian Emergency Aid (EA)-impacted poverty, inequality, and the labor market amidst the public health crisis. We use fixed-effects estimators to analyze the impact of the EA on labor force participation, unemployment, poverty, and income at the household level. We find that inequality, measured by per capita household income, reduced to a historical low and was accompanied by substantial poverty declines-even as compared to pre-pandemic levels. Furthermore, our results suggest that the policy has effectively targeted those in most need-temporarily reducing historical racial inequalities-while not incentivizing reductions in labor force participation. Absent the policy, adverse shocks would have been significant and are likely to occur once the transfer is interrupted. We also observe that the policy was not enough to curb the spread of the virus, suggesting that cash transfers alone are insufficient to protect citizens.

7.
J Urban Health ; 2022 Oct 12.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2267503

ABSTRACT

Early in the pandemic, New York City's public hospital system partnered with multiple philanthropic foundations to offer an unconditional cash transfer program for low-income New Yorkers affected by COVID-19. The $1000 cash transfers were designed to help people meet their most immediate health and social needs and were incorporated into healthcare delivery and contact tracing workflows as a response to the public health emergency. To better understand program recipients' experiences, researchers conducted 150 telephone surveys with randomly sampled cash transfer recipients and 20 in-depth qualitative interviews with purposefully sampled survey participants. Survey participants were predominantly Latinx (87%) and women (65%). The most common reported uses of the $1000 were food and rent. Most participants (79%) reported that without the $1000 cash transfer they would have had difficulty paying for basic expenses or making ends meet, with specific positive effects reported related to food, housing, and ability to work. The majority of survey participants reported that receiving the cash assistance somewhat or greatly improved their physical health (83%) and mental health (89%). Qualitative interview results generally supported the survey findings.

8.
1st Lekantara Annual Conference on Engineering and Information Technology, LiTE 2021 ; 2394, 2022.
Article in English | Scopus | ID: covidwho-2234550

ABSTRACT

In the event of a coronavirus (covid-19) pandemic, those in need will be helped through a government aid program known as the Village Cash Direct Assistance beneficiary fund (abbreviated BLT). Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has spread to nearly every corner of the globe, citizens' activities around the world have been hindered, especially those involving employment to support life's basic needs. The local economy suffers as a result of people losing their jobs. They have no idea how they will pay for the necessities of life. So, in order to help the locals, the government set up a Village BLT fund support program. Limag Village is one of the settlements that plans to ask for help. When the final decision is made, the village head will choose from the list of households that fit the criteria. A decision support system is one option for achieving clear and exact findings based on the strategy utilized. For a ranking-based decision-support system, the VIKOR approach (Vise Kriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje) is an excellent choice. In order to reduce the amount of time spent on guesswork when choosing which communities will benefit from BLT Desa money, this study aims to examine and quantify the results of decisions made using criteria that match those criteria. With the use of the following five criteria: profession (K1), number of dependents (K2), social safety net (K3), medical history (K4), and family card (K5): (K5). The results show that the VIKOR approach is able to obtain ranking values from the ten samples it was applied to.. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.

9.
Popul Res Policy Rev ; 42(1): 4, 2023.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2220155

ABSTRACT

Birth weight is a key human biological characteristic as a measure of prenatal development and a variable related to later quality of life. Studies have firmly established that a stressful situation in utero adversely affects newborns' birth weight. Using birth statistics provided by Statistics Korea, this study examined how universal cash transfer during the COVID-19 crisis affected newborns' birth weight in South Korea. Given that the normal gestation period is nearly 10 months, we chose newborns without a self-selection issue by utilizing information on birthdate and total pregnancy period from the dataset, subsequently applying difference-in-differences estimation. Results showed that universal cash transfer offset newborns' weight loss amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The effects differed according to households' sociodemographic characteristics, with effects being more pronounced for girls; more pronounced for households with more than two children; more pronounced in local districts severely affected during the initial stage of the pandemic, but less significant in metropolitan regions; and more among middle-class families. This study presents evidence that governmental cash transfer during the pandemic has improved newborns' health and that continuing such a policy would positively impact future generations from a health perspective.

10.
Journal of Physics: Conference Series ; 2394(1):012001, 2022.
Article in English | ProQuest Central | ID: covidwho-2187980

ABSTRACT

In the event of a coronavirus (covid-19) pandemic, those in need will be helped through a government aid program known as the Village Cash Direct Assistance beneficiary fund (abbreviated BLT). Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has spread to nearly every corner of the globe, citizens' activities around the world have been hindered, especially those involving employment to support life's basic needs. The local economy suffers as a result of people losing their jobs. They have no idea how they will pay for the necessities of life. So, in order to help the locals, the government set up a Village BLT fund support program. Limag Village is one of the settlements that plans to ask for help. When the final decision is made, the village head will choose from the list of households that fit the criteria. A decision support system is one option for achieving clear and exact findings based on the strategy utilized. For a ranking-based decision-support system, the VIKOR approach (Vise Kriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje) is an excellent choice. In order to reduce the amount of time spent on guesswork when choosing which communities will benefit from BLT Desa money, this study aims to examine and quantify the results of decisions made using criteria that match those criteria. With the use of the following five criteria: profession (K1), number of dependents (K2), social safety net (K3), medical history (K4), and family card (K5): (K5). The results show that the VIKOR approach is able to obtain ranking values from the ten samples it was applied to..

11.
Development Studies Research ; 9(1):1-11, 2022.
Article in English | ProQuest Central | ID: covidwho-2187768

ABSTRACT

Expenditure patterns can be taken into consideration in determining the type of government assistance. Without adequate information on household expenditure patterns, cash transfers may not be effective in improving welfare. This study aims to examine the expenditure patterns of households receiving cash assistance in Indonesia. The expenditure pattern is estimated using the Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System (QUAIDS). Four groups of expenditure types for food were examined: rice, staple food, beverages, tobacco and alcoholic beverages. The result showed that the largest predicted expenditure is for the purchase of staple food. Income elasticity for staple food is relatively highest than all other types of food. On the other hand, the price elasticity of tobacco and alcoholic beverages is relatively inelastic (lowest) compared to other food products. These results indicate that the provision of cash transfers for poor households has the potential to increase household welfare through increasing staple food consumption.

12.
International Journal of Health Policy and Management ; 2022.
Article in English | Web of Science | ID: covidwho-2124222

ABSTRACT

Achieving the targets of eliminating tuberculosis (TB) requires a combination of biomedical, epidemiological, and social approaches. Having hitted by the COVID-19 pandemic which diminishes the financial capacity of TB-affected households, the importance of delivering socioeconomic support to TB-affected household emerges. However, the evidence of TB-related socioeconomic support is still scarce, and some questions are left unanswered. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods study by Dave and Rupani (2022) shows that the direct benefit transfer, a form of cash transfer, to TB-affected households improves TB treatment outcomes in India despite the challenges. Some critical issues remain to be discussed: trading-off between the amount of cash and its sustainability, choosing the most appropriate support packages, detecting, and reaching the target population, and arranging the most effective delivery strategy. Knowledge gaps remains to be answered, and a global research agenda and political commitment are critical to encourage more evidence in delivering socioeconomic support for TB control.

13.
4th ACM SIGCAS/SIGCHI Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies, COMPASS 2022 ; Par F180472:214-231, 2022.
Article in English | Scopus | ID: covidwho-1950295

ABSTRACT

Phone sharing is pervasive in many low- and middle-income countries, affecting how millions of people interact with technology and each other. Yet there is very little quantitative evidence available on the extent or nature of phone sharing in resource-constrained contexts. This paper provides a comprehensive quantitative analysis of demographic variation in phone sharing patterns in Togo, and documents how a large cash transfer program during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted sharing. We analyze mobile phone records from the entire Togolese mobile network to measure the movement of SIM cards between SIM card slots (often on different mobile devices). By matching phone sharing measures derived from SIM reshuffling to demographic data from a government-run cash transfer program covering hundreds of thousands of individuals, we find that phone sharing is most common among women, young people, and people in rural areas. We also leverage randomization in the cash transfer program to find that the delivery of cash aid via mobile money significantly increases phone sharing among beneficiaries. We discuss the limitations of measuring phone sharing with mobile network data and the implications of our results for future aid programs delivered via mobile money. © 2022 Owner/Author.

14.
National Tax Journal ; 2022.
Article in English | Scopus | ID: covidwho-1948110

ABSTRACT

This paper reports findings from a randomized controlled trial of a one-time, $1,000 unconditional cash transfer to low-income households in October 2020. We use a combination of administrative and survey data collected six weeks posttreatment to examine four preregistered hypotheses: impacts on material hardship and mental health in the full study sample as well as among a very low-income sample. We find no effects of the cash transfer on any of the pre-specified or other exploratory outcomes. We explore various explanations for these null results and discuss implications for future research on unconditional cash transfer programs. © 2022 National Tax Association. All rights reserved.

15.
J Int AIDS Soc ; 25(6): e25938, 2022 06.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1905884

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Conditional cash transfers (CTs) augmented with other interventions are promising interventions for reducing HIV risk in adolescent girls and young women. METHODS: A multi-phase, quasi-experimental study assessed the impact of a CT (ZAR300; $22) conditional on attending a skills building intervention, Women of Worth (WoW), designed to improve sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes in Cape Town, South Africa from May 2017 to December 2019. The intervention entailed 12 sessions with encouragement to attend adolescent and youth-friendly health services. Women aged 19-24 years were randomized 1:1 to receive the intervention with a CT ("cash + care" or C+C) or without a CT ("care"). The study included a pilot phase followed by a post-modification phase with improved uptake and retention without changing programme content or CT. Self-reported HIV prevalence and SRH/HIV vulnerability were assessed via a self-administered questionnaire at baseline, after 11 sessions, and 6-30 months' post-intervention for a subset. Mixed effect logistic regression models were fitted to estimate within-subject changes in outcomes. RESULTS: Of 5116 participants, 904 (452 participants per arm) were in the pilot and 4212 (2039 "care" participants and 2173 "C+C" participants) were in the post modified phase. There were 1867 (85.9%) and 135 (6,6%) participants in the "C+C" group and the "Care," respectively, that were WoW completers (≥ 11 sessions/retention). During the pilot phase, 194 (42.9%) and 18 (4.0%) participants in "C+C" and the "care" groups were retained. Receiving a CT sustained participation nearly 60-fold (OR 60.37; 95% CI: 17.32; 210.50, p <0.001). Three-hundred and thirty women were followed for a median of 15.0 months [IQR: 13.3; 17.8] to assess the durability of impact. Self-reported new employment status increased more than three-fold (p <0.001) at WoW completion and was sustained to the longer time point. Intimate partner violence indicators were reduced immediately after WoW, but this was not durable. CONCLUSIONS: Participants receiving CT had sustained participation in an SRH/HIV prevention skills building with improvement in employment and some SRH outcomes. Layered, "young woman centred" programmes to address HIV and SRH risk in young women may be enhanced with CT.


Subject(s)
HIV Infections , Intimate Partner Violence , Sexual Health , Adolescent , Female , HIV Infections/epidemiology , HIV Infections/prevention & control , Humans , Sexual Behavior , South Africa/epidemiology
16.
BMC Public Health ; 22(1): 1190, 2022 06 15.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1885292

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Cash transfer (CT) programs are an important type of social protection meant to reduce poverty. Whether CT programs increase the risk of overweight and obesity is unclear. The objective was to characterize the relationship between CT programs and the risk of overweight and obesity in children and adults. METHODS: We searched articles in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, EconLit, Global Health, CINAHL Plus, IBSS, Health & Medical Collection, Scopus, Web of Science, and WHO Global Index Medicus in August 2021. Studies involving CT as the intervention, a control group, body mass index, overweight, or obesity as an outcome, and sample size > 300 were included. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used for quality assessment. RESULTS: Of 2355 articles identified, 20 met the inclusion criteria. Because of marked heterogeneity in methodology, a narrative synthesis was used to present results. Thirteen of the studies reported that CT programs were associated with a significantly lower risk of overweight and obesity, eight studies showed no significant association, and one study reported a significantly increased risk of obesity in women. Quality assessment showed that most studies lacked sample size and power calculations, validation of exposure, descriptions of non-respondents or those lost to follow-up, and blinded outcome assessment. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the studies were suggestive that CT programs either have no impact or decrease the risk of overweight and/or obesity in children, adolescents, and adults, but no firm conclusions can be drawn from the available evidence. This review demonstrated limitations in the available studies of CT programs and overweight/obesity.


Subject(s)
Overweight , Pediatric Obesity , Adolescent , Adult , Body Mass Index , Child , Female , Humans , Pediatric Obesity/epidemiology , Pediatric Obesity/prevention & control
17.
Front Public Health ; 10: 887201, 2022.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1875439

ABSTRACT

Objective: This study assessed the relationship between self-rated political orientation and attitude toward the cash transfer policy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This cross-sectional study conducted in South Korea during the pandemic included a stratified sample of 1,004 respondents (aged 19 years and older). We tested the hypotheses that political orientation shapes attitudes toward social policies and that other socioeconomic factors might have relatively minor importance. Logistic regression was used to identify associations between political orientation and attitude toward the cash transfer policy. Average marginal effects were calculated to determine the effect size of each variable. Results: Political orientation, age, and residential area were correlated with attitudes toward the policy. Compared to the conservatives, the non-committed and the moderate showed about 10% more favorable attitudes, and the progressive group showed robust support. People in their 30s and 40s showed similar attitudes to the 18-29 group, while older people showed much lower support. Compared to the Seoul metropolitan area, residents of the Ho-nam area showed favorable attitudes, and those of the Yeong-nam area had relatively unfavorable attitudes. Conclusions: This study suggests that attitudes toward the cash transfer policy are mainly associated with political orientation. Although these results illuminate pandemics' social and political dimensions, further efforts are needed to fully understand the determinants and mechanisms of attitudes toward policies outside the traditional health policy scope.


Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Pandemics , Aged , Attitude , COVID-19/epidemiology , Cross-Sectional Studies , Humans , Public Policy , Republic of Korea/epidemiology
18.
Public Adm Dev ; 41(3): 135-141, 2021 Aug.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1359813

ABSTRACT

Using the decommodification and (de)familisation framework, this paper examines the two main Social Safety Net programme during the pandemic and its effect on female welfare in Indonesia. It is argued that despite expansion of decommodification measures through unemployment benefits, females tend to benefit less because the existing labour force structure is highly dominated by males. Hence, the only way of being financially secure is to have access to Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT), which means it then exposes them to greater risk of familisation. This is because to be eligible for CCT, they are (informally) required to perform unpaid caregiving. This article concludes that familial ethics has become a rationale for the state to push females to seek social support through a family relationship, resulting in social risk internalisation during the COVID-19 crisis, rather granting them citizenship rights-based welfare.

19.
Jpn Econ Rev (Oxf) ; 72(3): 409-437, 2021.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1286233

ABSTRACT

In response to the COVID-19 crisis, governments worldwide have been formulating and implementing different strategies to mitigate its social and economic impacts. We study the household consumption responses to Japan's COVID-19 unconditional cash transfer program. Owing to frequent delays in local governments' administrative procedures, the timing of the payment to households varied unexpectedly. Using this natural experiment, we analyze households' consumption responses to cash transfers using high-frequency data from personal finance management software that links detailed information on expenditure, income, and wealth. We construct three consumption measures: one captures the baseline marginal propensity to consume (MPC), and the other two are for the lower and the upper bound of MPC. Additionally, we explore heterogeneity in MPCs by household income, wealth, and population characteristics, as well as consumption categories. Our results show that households exhibit immediate and non-negligible positive responses in household expenditure. There is significant heterogeneity depending on various household characteristics, with liquidity constraint status being the most crucial factor, in line with the standard consumption theory. Additionally, this study provides policymakers with insights regarding targeted cash transfer programs, conditioning on labor income, and liquidity constraints.

20.
BMC Med ; 19(1): 127, 2021 06 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1249556

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Reducing poverty and improving access to health care are two of the most effective actions to decrease maternal mortality, and conditional cash transfer (CCT) programmes act on both. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of one of the world's largest CCT (the Brazilian Bolsa Familia Programme (BFP)) on maternal mortality during a period of 11 years. METHODS: The study had an ecological longitudinal design and used all 2548 Brazilian municipalities with vital statistics of adequate quality during 2004-2014. BFP municipal coverage was classified into four levels, from low to consolidated, and its duration effects were measured using the average municipal coverage of previous years. We used negative binomial multivariable regression models with fixed-effects specifications, adjusted for all relevant demographic, socioeconomic, and healthcare variables. RESULTS: BFP was significantly associated with reductions of maternal mortality proportionally to its levels of coverage and years of implementation, with a rate ratio (RR) reaching 0.88 (95%CI 0.81-0.95), 0.84 (0.75-0.96) and 0.83 (0.71-0.99) for intermediate, high and consolidated BFP coverage over the previous 11 years. The BFP duration effect was stronger among young mothers (RR 0.77; 95%CI 0.67-0.96). BFP was also associated with reductions in the proportion of pregnant women with no prenatal visits (RR 0.73; 95%CI 0.69-0.77), reductions in hospital case-fatality rate for delivery (RR 0.78; 95%CI 0.66-0.94) and increases in the proportion of deliveries in hospital (RR 1.05; 95%CI 1.04-1.07). CONCLUSION: Our findings show that a consolidated and durable CCT coverage could decrease maternal mortality, and these long-term effects are stronger among poor mothers exposed to CCT during their childhood and adolescence, suggesting a CCT inter-generational effect. Sustained CCT coverage could reduce health inequalities and contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal 3.1, and should be preserved during the current global economic crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


Subject(s)
Maternal Mortality/trends , Prenatal Care/economics , Primary Health Care/economics , Public Assistance/economics , Adolescent , Adult , Brazil , COVID-19/economics , Female , Financing, Government , Humans , Poverty/economics , Pregnancy , SARS-CoV-2
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