CCT beneficiaries performing better in education, health – Balisacan

Households benefiting from the government's conditional cash transfer (CCT) program, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), are more likely to have better results in the areas of education and health than non-beneficiaries, according to an impact evaluation conducted by the National Economic and Development Authority.

“As reported in the Socioeconomic Report (SER): 2010-2012, preliminary indicators suggest that the [4Ps] is gaining ground in achieving its desired long-term outcomes of poverty reduction,” NEDA director general and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said over the weekend.

According to Balisacan, the findings show that 10 percent more beneficiary households have insurance coverage through PhilHealth than non-beneficiaries, while the number of pregnant beneficiaries who availed of routine healthcare was also 10 percent higher than the number of non-beneficiaries.

Young beneficiaries also had higher enrolment rates in daycare (10 percent among 3- to 5-year-olds) and basic education (5 percent among 6- to 11-year-olds), compared to children not benefiting from the program.

Beneficiary children in the 6-11 and 12-14 age groups are, respectively, 4 percent and 5 percent more likely to attend regular classes than non-Pantawid counterparts.

Households under the program are also spending 36 percent more for their children’s education and 33 percent more for basic medical costs than non-Pantawid households.

4Ps provides cash incentives to identified poor households that comply with certain requirements such as their children’s regular attendance in schools and the mothers' regular visits to health clinics. The beneficiaries were selected through the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR).

Eligible households are those categorized as “poor” by the NHTS-PR and have children 0-14 years old or a pregnant woman at the time of assessment. They must also agree to meet the conditions set forth by the CCT program.

According to the SER, 3.01 million households were covered by 4Ps as of June 2012, with beneficiaries' compliance at an average of 95.5 percent in 2011. — BM, GMA News