81214 enGender Impact: The World Bank’s Gender Impact Evaluation Database Children's Schooling and Work in the Presence of a Conditional Cash Transfer Program in Rural Colombia Orazio Attanasio, Emla Fitzsimons, Ana Gomez, Martha Isabel Gutierrez, Costas Meghir, Author(s) Alice Mesnard Contact emla_f@ifs.org.uk Country Colombia Organizing Theme Education and Skills Status Completed Intervention Category Cash Transfer Sector Social Protection The paper studies the effects of Familias en Acción, a conditional cash transfer program implemented in rural areas in Colombia since 2002, on school enrolment and child labour. Using a difference-in-difference framework, our results show that the program increased school participation of 14 to 17 year old children quite substantially, by between 5 and 7 percentage points, and had lower effects on the enrolment of younger children, in the region of 1 to 3 percentage points. The effects on work are largest in the relatively more Abstract urbanized parts of rural areas and particularly for younger children, whose participation in domestic work decreased by around 13 percentage points after the program, as compared to a decrease of 10 percentage points for older children in these same areas. The program had no discernible impacts on children’s work in more rural areas. Participation in income- generating work remained largely unaffected by the program. We also find evidence of school and work time not being fully substitutable, suggesting that some, but not all, of the increased time at school may be drawn from children’s leisure time. Gender Connection Gender Informed Analysis Gender Outcomes Gender disaggregated school enrollment, child labor IE Design Difference in Difference Famalias en Accion is a standard CCT offering transfers equivalent to about $8-16 per school age child and nutrition packages of about $28 for children below 7 contingent on Intervention school attendance. The program is targeted based on the household's poverty score index. The schooling transfers go directly to the mothers. Intervention Period The program originally began in 2001 and was funded by the IDB to last for 3 years The final evaluation covers 122 municipalities, 57 treatment and 65 controls. In each Sample population municipality approximately 100 households were included in the sample for a total sample of about 11,500, 10,742 of which were included in the follow up survey. Households that were treated with the CCT were compared to households in municipalities that did not receive the CCT. The baseline actually was conducted after some of the Comparison conditions treatment group were already treated so there is some comparison between the early treatment and the late treatment group. Last updated: 14 August 2013 1 enGender Impact: The World Bank’s Gender Impact Evaluation Database Unit of analysis Child level Evaluation Period 2001-November 2003. The study examines enrollment data for 3 years. The program increased enrollment rates of 14-17 year old children substantially, between 5 and 7 percentage points. It also increased the already high enrollment rates of 8-13 year old Results children by between 1-3 percentage points. The impacts on child labor are greatest for younger children, whose domestic work decreased by 10-13 p.p. but participation in income-generating work did not change significantly. The program was not rolled out randomly. The treatment and control area my not have Primary study limitations common support. Funding Source Attanasio, O., Fitzsimons, E., Gomez, A., Gutierrez, M. I., Meghir, C., & Mesnard, A. Reference(s) (2010). Children’s schooling and work in the presence of a conditional cash transfer program in rural Colombia. Economic development and cultural change, 58(2), 181-210. Link to Studies http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/648188 Microdata Last updated: 14 August 2013 2