Impact Evaluation of Malawi Social Cash Transfer: Assessing Heterogeneity of Results According to Gender of Household Head

Abstract: Malawi Social Cash Transfer scheme is a social protection program designed to alleviate poverty, reduce malnutrition and improve school enrolment by delivering a regular cash grant targeting ultra-poor and labour-constrained households. In contrast to many experiences in Latin America in which the woman is necessarily, or preferably, the beneficiary of the household who gets the program grant, in Malawi, the cash transfer goes to the head of household regardless of gender. This paper assesses the impact of SCT in Malawi from the gender perspective, assessing to which extent the effect of the program changes if the cash transfer is received by a female head of household in comparison to a male head. Using a longitudinal data from 2007 and 2008, results indicate particularly strong impacts on food consumption and spending when placed in hands of female household heads. Also, the cash transfer had positive effects in reducing vulnerability of households to shocks and improving productive capacity of subsistence-oriented households.