Social protection and foundational cognitive skills during adolescence
Evidence from a large Public Works Programme
Abstract
Many low- and middle-income countries have introduced Public Works Programmes (PWPs) to fight poverty. PWPs provide temporary cash-for-work opportunities to boost poor households鈥� incomes and to provide better infrastructure to local communities. While PWPs do not target children directly, the increased demand for adult labour may affect children鈥檚 development through increasing households鈥� incomes and changing household members鈥� time uses. This paper expands on a multidimensional literature showing the relationship between early life circumstances and learning outcomes and provides the first evidence that children from families who benefit from PWPs show increased foundational cognitive skills (FCS).
This is an output of the Young Lives at Work programme
Citation
Freund, R., Favara, M., Porter, C., Behrman, J. 鈥淪ocial protection and foundational cognitive skills during adolescence: evidence from a large Public Works Programme鈥�