Effect of Social Assistance Programmes on Improving Quality of Life in Kenya: Evidence from Machakos County
European Scientific Journal July 2017 edition Vol.13
Effect of Social Assistance Programmes on Improving Quality of Life in Kenya: Evidence from Machakos County
Joshua Mutambu Ngelu 0
0 College of Human Resource Development Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology , Kenya
This study investigates the effect of social assistance programmes on improving quality of life in Kenya - evidence from Machakos County. Probit model was applied to model the empirical analysis. The paper concludes that moderate households' awareness of available types of cash transfer. On the households' quality of life with reference to social assistance programmes, the study posits that households in receipt of bursary support, cash transfers for orphans and vulnerable children, and cash transfers to the elderly will report an improved life quality compared to their counterparts who have not received such transfers. Similar conclusion is arrived at for remittances receipts from relatives residing outside the County. The paper recommends application and scaling up of social assistance programmes to reduce poverty at county and national levels so that in turn can improve quality of life of households. This will go a long way in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Social assistance programmes; Cash transfers and Probit model
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and social exclusion is understated
(Barrientos & DeJong, 2006; Marcus
2006; UNDP 2006)
. In Europe and North America, poverty reduction efforts
through social assistance programmes begun after the Second World War
and subsequently spread to Latin America and lately in the other continents.
De Janvry, Sadoulet, and Vakis (2008), asserts that in the short-term,
social assistance programmes serve as a social safety net that assists the
chronic poor and vulnerable segments of the population in adjusting and
coping with negative effects of various forms of shocks. By supporting
income levels, these programmes ensure that poor families meet their
immediate basic consumption needs
(de la Briere and Rawlings 2006)
.
Further, (Samson et al, 2004) is of conclusion that for the households
receiving Old Age Pension in South Africa, their labour force participation is
higher by 11% to 12% compared to the households who do not receive such
cash transfers. Similarly, In Swaziland the prospect of a guaranteed income
through the Old Age Grant provides access to farm inputs on easy
(concessionary) terms, and particularly through agricultural cooperatives and
credit unions (Dlamini, 2007). In addition,
(HelpAge, 2006)
points out that
in Lesotho, Old Age Pension leads to an average of 18% of the money being
transferred towards creating jobs for other people.
These programmes also aim to improve the health, nutrition, and
education of young children in the short term and their income earning
potential in the long-run, ultimately disrupting the intergenerational
transmission of poverty. However,
(Enrique, 2008)
, notes that the overall
consensus is that, in the short term, these programmes are more successful in
decreasing the intensity of poverty than in lowering overall incidence. Ideal
case studies on the effectiveness cash transfers as a form of social assistance
programme in improving the livelihood of the beneficiaries can be traced in
the larger Latin America countries with Mexico leading in the number of the
case studies. In the case of Mexico, 30% of beneficiaries of cash transfer
programmes experienced a decline in income poverty, according to Nigenda
and González-Robledo (2005). Maluccio’s (2005) randomized evaluation of
Social protection in Nicaragua revealed that among households affected by a
coffee crisis, beneficiaries of the programme were able to maintain
preprogramme expenditure levels, in contrast to a 22% decline among
nonbeneficiary households in the same region.
In Kenya, the National Gender and Equality Commission (2008)
posit that household empowerment is positively correlated with social
assistance programmes. More particularly, the number of dependents a
beneficiary of a social assistance programme has in their household is
correlated with effectiveness and efficiency of the cash transfer program on
empowerment at the household level. It can be pointed out that much of the
existing literature relevant to the study is on global basis and a few isolated
cases on national and regional basis. In 2000 the international community
declared its commitment to the eradication of poverty as part of the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and later in 2016 among the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At the regional level the African
Union in 2013 launched Agenda 2063 as a “ call for action” to all segments
of African society to work together to build a prosperous and united Africa
(AU, 2013). It is in view of this Kenya Vision 2030 and the subsequent
Medium term Plans has committed to reduce poverty in the country.
To support poor households the Government of Kenya has set up
pr (...truncated)