Ghana’s Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) program was implemented in 2008 to provide social protection to vulnerable groups, such as orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). This qualitative study explored how household size influenced the extent to which the basic needs of OVC were met through this program. Little is known about the effectiveness of conditional cash transfers in Ghana and there is limited literature on the topic. This study, therefore, is intended to explore beyond the existing literature to examine the effects of household size on cash transfer utilization for beneficiary orphans and vulnerable children. The study posits that cultural beliefs and practices can influence how cash is utilised at the household level. Therefore the nature of family living, and the size of families, in communities in Ghana may affect the utilization of conditional cash transfer and it is important to be aware of these factors when determining the implementation of cash transfer programs.
The report includes a description of the methodology, the findings and discussion of the data found, and the conclusions and implications. For this study, a purposive sampling method was used to recruit 21 households caring for OVC. In-depth interviews were conducted with 21 caregivers and 10 OVC, to gather data for the study. The findings from this study indicate that household size influenced spending decisions of caregivers, although the cash transfer was conditional. Additionally, it was found that the cash received by caregivers was used to benefit all children in the households, both beneficiary and non-beneficiary. Based on the findings, the authors conclude that cash transfers will have the intended impact on beneficiaries if traditional family living systems and practices are taken into consideration in the design and implementation of national social protection programs. To read the abstract for this paper, please click on the link above.
