Conditional cash transfers in OECD countries: a realist synthesis

Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs) schemes have been adopted mostly in low-income countries as a tool to break the vicious cycle of poverty transmission. Although their use is controversial, behavioral conditionalities have also been widely used in welfare-to-work strategies, minimum income scheme, a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in sociology 2023-09, Vol.8, p.1202430-1202430
Main Authors: Mazzeo Rinaldi, Francesco, Leone, Liliana
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
activation
conditionality
minimum income
poverty
realist synthesis
Sociology
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Summary:Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs) schemes have been adopted mostly in low-income countries as a tool to break the vicious cycle of poverty transmission. Although their use is controversial, behavioral conditionalities have also been widely used in welfare-to-work strategies, minimum income scheme, and labor market “activation” policies in OECD countries. The paper presents the results of a Realist Review to synthesize the evidence of CCTs related to work conditionality, delivered in OECD countries. The evaluation literature of 23 selected CCT programs was analyzed by reconstructing Context-Mechanism-Outcome configurations. The main findings show that CCTs can be an effective counterbalance to work disincentives introduced by welfare measures. The unintended negative impacts, the role of sanctioning, and the causal pathways that may affect the most disadvantaged people and their children are discussed.
ISSN:2297-7775
2297-7775
DOI:10.3389/fsoc.2023.1202430