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. 2017 Jun 1;31(2):434-458.
doi: 10.1093/wber/lhv081. Epub 2016 Feb 18.

Does Child Sponsorship Pay Off In Adulthood? An International Study of Impacts on Income and Wealth

Bruce Wydick  1 , Paul Glewwe  2 , Laine Rutledge  3
Affiliations

Does Child Sponsorship Pay Off In Adulthood? An International Study of Impacts on Income and Wealth

Bruce Wydick et al. World Bank Econ Rev. .

Abstract

We estimate 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, we utilize an age-eligibility rule followed from 1980 to 1992 that limited sponsorship to children 12 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. We find 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, our results also show modest effects of child sponsorship on childbearing in adulthood.

Keywords: Child sponsorship; childbearing; developing countries; income; wealth.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Sponsorship as a Function of Age When Program Started
Figure 2
Figure 2
Differences in Log Income, Sponsored vs. Unsponsored
Figure 3
Figure 3
Monthly Income as a Function of Eligibility
Figure 4
Figure 4
Growth in Labor Income Gap Over Time, Sponsored vs. Non-Sponsored
Figure 5
Figure 5
Impact on Labor Income between Sponsored and Non-Sponsored by Mother’s Education (Bandwidth = 0.5)
Figure 6
Figure 6
Kernel Density of Number of Children by Sponsorship Status
Figure 7
Figure 7
Probability of Marriage by Sponsorship, Sex, and Age
Figure 8
Figure 8
Number of Children in Adulthood by Age
Figure 9
Figure 9
Plausible Chain of Causal Effects from Sponsorship
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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