Understanding social safety nets and intra-household food allocation: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh
Evidence shows that social protection can improve diets, but little is known about how impacts vary within households, the extent to which the modality of the transfer affects how it is distributed across all household members, whether adding training on the importance of nutrition and diets alters...
| Autores principales: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
Elsevier
2026
|
| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/176396 |
| _version_ | 1855530161649221632 |
|---|---|
| author | Coleman, Fiona M. Ahmed, Akhter Roy, Shalini Hoddinott, John F. |
| author_browse | Ahmed, Akhter Coleman, Fiona M. Hoddinott, John F. Roy, Shalini |
| author_facet | Coleman, Fiona M. Ahmed, Akhter Roy, Shalini Hoddinott, John F. |
| author_sort | Coleman, Fiona M. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Evidence shows that social protection can improve diets, but little is known about how impacts vary within households, the extent to which the modality of the transfer affects how it is distributed across all household members, whether adding training on the importance of nutrition and diets alters the way transfer resources are allocated within the household, relative to a transfer alone, and if differences in allocations are shaped by differences in livelihood opportunities. We use individual food intake data from two randomized control trials fielded in rural Bangladesh to address these questions. Our results overwhelmingly demonstrate that food gains are distributed equally, regardless of the type of transfers households received (cash, food, or combination), inclusion of nutrition training, regional context, or specific dietary outcome measured. These patterns of findings hold when we consider several extensions: (1) analyzing more aggregated demographic groups; (2) considering alternative measures of diet; (3) analyzing shares rather than levels; (4) considering impacts relative to deprivation at baseline; (5) analyzing impacts on non-food outcomes that can be assigned demographically; (6) re-estimating impacts using alternate samples and alternate estimation models. Where the few significant differences are found, they are often small in magnitude and in favor of children. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace176396 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| publisherStr | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1763962026-01-23T22:34:22Z Understanding social safety nets and intra-household food allocation: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh Coleman, Fiona M. Ahmed, Akhter Roy, Shalini Hoddinott, John F. social safety nets resource allocation gender equity cash transfers diet gender social protection Evidence shows that social protection can improve diets, but little is known about how impacts vary within households, the extent to which the modality of the transfer affects how it is distributed across all household members, whether adding training on the importance of nutrition and diets alters the way transfer resources are allocated within the household, relative to a transfer alone, and if differences in allocations are shaped by differences in livelihood opportunities. We use individual food intake data from two randomized control trials fielded in rural Bangladesh to address these questions. Our results overwhelmingly demonstrate that food gains are distributed equally, regardless of the type of transfers households received (cash, food, or combination), inclusion of nutrition training, regional context, or specific dietary outcome measured. These patterns of findings hold when we consider several extensions: (1) analyzing more aggregated demographic groups; (2) considering alternative measures of diet; (3) analyzing shares rather than levels; (4) considering impacts relative to deprivation at baseline; (5) analyzing impacts on non-food outcomes that can be assigned demographically; (6) re-estimating impacts using alternate samples and alternate estimation models. Where the few significant differences are found, they are often small in magnitude and in favor of children. 2026-01 2025-09-08T18:30:34Z 2025-09-08T18:30:34Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/176396 en https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.137047 Open Access Elsevier Coleman, Fiona M.; Ahmed, Akhter U.; Roy, Shalini; and Hoddinott, John. 2025. Understanding social safety nets and intra-household food allocation: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh. Journal of Development Economics 178(January 2026): 103585. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2025.103585 |
| spellingShingle | social safety nets resource allocation gender equity cash transfers diet gender social protection Coleman, Fiona M. Ahmed, Akhter Roy, Shalini Hoddinott, John F. Understanding social safety nets and intra-household food allocation: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh |
| title | Understanding social safety nets and intra-household food allocation: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh |
| title_full | Understanding social safety nets and intra-household food allocation: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh |
| title_fullStr | Understanding social safety nets and intra-household food allocation: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh |
| title_full_unstemmed | Understanding social safety nets and intra-household food allocation: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh |
| title_short | Understanding social safety nets and intra-household food allocation: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh |
| title_sort | understanding social safety nets and intra household food allocation experimental evidence from bangladesh |
| topic | social safety nets resource allocation gender equity cash transfers diet gender social protection |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/176396 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT colemanfionam understandingsocialsafetynetsandintrahouseholdfoodallocationexperimentalevidencefrombangladesh AT ahmedakhter understandingsocialsafetynetsandintrahouseholdfoodallocationexperimentalevidencefrombangladesh AT royshalini understandingsocialsafetynetsandintrahouseholdfoodallocationexperimentalevidencefrombangladesh AT hoddinottjohnf understandingsocialsafetynetsandintrahouseholdfoodallocationexperimentalevidencefrombangladesh |