The Impact of Cash Transfers and Women Self-Help Groups on Quality of Life
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Can Women Self-Help Groups Improve Financial Stability and Quality of Life of Households Receiving Government Cash Transfers?
Policy Context
Unconditional cash transfers have emerged as a powerful social policy program in targeting poverty reduction, addressing hunger, and improving health and well-being. However, despite global efforts to expand cash transfers to vulnerable populations, challenges persist in the form of program dependency, erosion of cash value, and poor financial literacy among recipients. Since women bear the highest burden of caregiving responsibilities, empowering women through self-help groups (SHGs) can reduce their reliance on cash transfers and foster lasting economic stability. This study will investigate the impact of women’s engagement with SHGs on their financial stability and overall quality of life in urban slums in Nairobi, Kenya.
Study Design
The research team will co-design the intervention with stakeholders, including recipients, to ensure the SHG model meets the needs of households receiving cash transfers in urban informal settlements. Then, they will conduct a cluster randomized control trial by engaging 772 people in two slums. In each slum, 386 households receiving Inua Jamii-OVC cash transfers will be randomly assigned to either treatment or control groups. In the treatment group, women caregivers from Inua Jamii-OVC beneficiary households will be supported to join a local women SHG. In the control group, beneficiaries will continue to receive their regular Inua Jamii-OVC cash transfers without any involvement in SHGs throughout the study period. The researchers will then estimate the treatment effect on outcome variables determined in the first stage of the study and share the results with local policymakers, research institutions, the general public, and social protection stakeholders.
Results and Policy Lessons
Results forthcoming.