Does Child Sponsorship Pay Off in Adulthood?
This research estimates the impact of international child sponsorship on adult income and wealth of formerly sponsored children using data on 10,144 individuals in six countries. To identify causal effects, an age-eligibility rule followed from 1980 to 1992 is utilized that limited sponsorship to children twelve years old or younger when the program was introduced in a village, allowing comparisons of sponsored children with older siblings who were slightly too old to be sponsored. Estimations indicate that international child sponsorship increased monthly income by $13–17 over an untreated baseline of $75, principally from inducing higher future labor market participation. Results show evidence for positive impacts on dwelling quality in adulthood and modest evidence of impacts on ownership of consumer durables in adulthood, limited to increased ownership of mobile phones. Finally, results point to modest effects of child sponsorship on childbearing in adulthood.
| Summary: | This research estimates the impact of
international child sponsorship on adult income and wealth
of formerly sponsored children using data on 10,144
individuals in six countries. To identify causal effects, an
age-eligibility rule followed from 1980 to 1992 is utilized
that limited sponsorship to children twelve years old or
younger when the program was introduced in a village,
allowing comparisons of sponsored children with older
siblings who were slightly too old to be sponsored.
Estimations indicate that international child sponsorship
increased monthly income by $13–17 over an untreated
baseline of $75, principally from inducing higher future
labor market participation. Results show evidence for
positive impacts on dwelling quality in adulthood and modest
evidence of impacts on ownership of consumer durables in
adulthood, limited to increased ownership of mobile phones.
Finally, results point to modest effects of child
sponsorship on childbearing in adulthood. |
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