A study on the effects of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program on child labor outcomes
Date
2016-12
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Abstract
Child labor is a serious issue in the Philippines as more than 3 million children are
affected – many of which are involved in hazardous work. The Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino
Program (4Ps), a conditional cash transfer (CCT) program, grants cash to poor households
upon the fulfillment of stipulated conditions – one of which involves sending children to
school. Given its structure, the 4Ps seems to be an apt policy in dealing with issue. This
study explores the impact of the 4Ps program on child labor incidence and number of
working children using propensity score matching. Average treatment effects on the treated
(ATTs) are computed for the given outcome variables and are compared.
The 2011 results present positive ATTs that are statistically significant, indicating
that 4Ps households have higher incidence and number of children working on average. In
2014, this result vanishes, suggesting a reduction in presence of child labor among 4Ps
households. This is supported by lower ATT values for beneficiary households in
comparison to 2011. However, the ATT values of 2014 prove to be insignificant, signaling
the need for more conclusive evidence through other methods. Nonetheless, the study does
hint on the potency of the program to combat child labor.
Description
Keywords
child labor, CCT, 4Ps, impact evaluation, propensity score matching