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Why a Universal Child Grant Makes Sense for Nepal
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The Child Grant (CG) was introduced in 2009/10 with the primary objective of supporting better nutrition for children under 5 years of age. The CG transfers NRs. 800 every four months to the mother or caregiver of eligible children and was initially provided to all households with children under 5 years in the geographically remote Karnali region and to poor Dalit households in the rest of the country. The benefit level and target population has remained unchanged over the first six years of implementation. However, the Government has long indicated its intention to extend the CG beyond Dalit households across the country.
Targeting social transfer programs to the poor can be beneficial in certain circumstances. In the case of Nepal’s CG, however, poverty targeting would lead to largely undesirable outcomes. A universal approach reaches substantially more poor children and is better at reaching the poorest of the poor than Dalit and poverty targeted approaches. In a context where poverty rates are high, especially among young children, the social cost of excluding large numbers of the poor outweighs the financial cost of including a minority who are more income secure. Even if a more reliable PMT were developed, it will be highly challenging and costly to implement at scale in the foreseeable future.
#UNICEF #ChildGrants #2016
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Publisher:
UNICEF
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(2016
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Type / Script:
Publication
in English
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Keywords:
CHILD DEVELOPMENT, CHILDREN, CHILD SURVIVAL, CHILD WELFARE, CHILD CARE, CAPITAL INVESTMENTS, FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE, DALITS, POPULATION, SOCIAL TRANSFER PROGRAM
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Thematic Group:
UNICEF
:
Children Fund
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Thesaurus:
14.05.04
- Welfare And Social Services
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Reference Link:
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