Study: CCT on track to meet goals

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Social Work and Development's Conditional Cash Transfer program is set to achieve its goals of promoting investments in the health and education of its beneficiaries, the World Bank reported on Friday.

In a report titled Philippines Conditional Cash Transfer Program, Impact Evaluation 2012, the multilateral lender said the CCT beneficiaries are enrolling and attending schools with improved health due to regular visits in health stations. Pregnant mothers who benefit from the program are also getting proper care, it added.

CCT or Pantawid Pamilya gives cash grants to the poorest households to encourage them to keep their children aged 0-14 in school and have regular health checks. Pregnant mothers are also required to avail of proper medical care and their deliveries attended to by health professionals. Mothers are also required to attend family development sessions on parenting and accessing social services in the community.

The report said that among the CCT villages surveyed, 76 percent of the preschoolers are enrolled in daycare, compared to 65 percent in non-CCT villages.

Ninety-eight percent of school children aged 6-11 who benefit from the program are enrolled in school, against 93 percent in non-CCT villages.

CCT children aged 6-14 also have higher school attendance (95-96 percent) compared to 91 percent of non-CCT program.

Meanwhile, in health, 64 percent of pregnant mothers in CCT villages had antenatal care against 54 percent in non-CCT villages. Eighty-five percent of children beneficiaries aged 6-14 have also undergone deworming as against 80 percent in non-CCT villages, and 81 percent of children in CCT villages aghed 0-5 have taken Vitamin A supplements compared to 75 percent in non-CCT villages.

“I am pleased to know that the children of poor families are indeed enjoying better and improving access to education and better health services through Pantawid Pamilya,” said DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman. “Along with other government programs aimed to reduce poverty, Pantawid Pamilya ensures that no one gets left behind in terms achieving holistic and inclusive growth,” she said.

Junko Onishi, World Bank's social protection specialist, said the Pantawid Pamilya program has reduced severe stunting among poor children 6-36 months of age. Severe stunting can cause irreversible damage later in life including lower educational attainment, reduced adult income and decreased offspring birth weight, Onishi said.

“This reduction in severe stunting indicates that CCT is enabling families to better care for their children. More parents in Pantawid barangays (villages) are feeding their children with high-protein food including eggs and fish, leading to improved nutritional status,” Onishi said.

Meanwhile, Nazmul Chaudhury, World Bank’s country sector coordinator for human development who co-authored the report, said poor households under the program spend 38 percent more in education per capita and 34 percent more on medical expenses per capita than their non-Pantawid counterparts.

This trend indicates a shift in the spending pattern among CCT beneficiaries towards greater investments in health and education of their children,” Chaudhury said.

The study, based on the analysis of 1,418 poor households eligible for the program from a survey covering 3,742 households in the provinces of Lanao del Norte, Mountain Province, Negros Occidental, and Occidental Mindoro recommended that coordination among health service providers needs to be improved. It also suggested that the possibility of extending coverage from the coverage from the current five years, increasing the grant amount for older children and improving school facilities and services need to be explored.

The study was funded by the  the World Bank and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and conducted by the World Bank and DSWD, in coordination with AusAID and the Asian Development Bank.