Do cash transfer programs have different effects on children based on household disability status? Evidence from Malawi and Zambia

Globally, about 1 billion people have disabilities. Cash transfers (CTs) are social protection programs often explicitly including people with disabilities. There is little research differentiating CT impacts by disability status. We used a triple difference estimation strategy with three-way interaction terms to estimate disability-differential impacts of CTs in Malawi and Zambia on material needs, physical health, and nutritional status among children. Results show CTs reduced the prevalence of illness more among children in households of members experiencing the greatest functional difficulties compared to those in households without disability. The CTs similarly improved access to material needs for all children. This research suggests CTs in Malawi and Zambia affected children in households with disabilities more in terms of health outcomes, despite experiencing similar impacts on material inputs.