Division of Community Health and Human Development, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, 50 University Hall, MC 7360, Berkeley, CA 94720-7360, USA.
Soc Sci Med. 2011 May;72(9):1437-46. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.03.005. Epub 2011 Mar 21.
We examined the effects of Ecuador's Bono de Desarrollo Humano (BDH)--an unconditional cash transfer program that was rolled-out using a randomized design--on health and development outcomes in very young children. Communities that were randomly assigned to the treatment group began receiving the BDH in 2004 and those randomly assigned to the comparison group began receiving benefits two years later. Families enrolled in the BDH received a monthly cash stipend ($15USD) representing an approximate 6-10% increase in household income. Participants analyzed in this study are children aged 12-35 months from treatment (n = 797) and comparison (n = 399) communities in rural and urban Ecuador. Main outcomes measured were language skills (the Fundación MacArthur Inventorio del Desarollo de Habilidades Comunicativas-Breve), height-for-age z-score, and hemoglobin concentration. Results indicate that in rural areas, being randomized to receive the BDH in very early childhood led to significantly better performance on the number of words a child was saying, and on the probability that the child was combining two or more words. There were no significant effects on language development for children in urban areas and there were no effects on height-for-age z-score or hemoglobin concentration in rural or urban areas. A limited number of potential pathways with respect to cognitive/language stimulation, health behaviors, and parenting quality were also explored. Findings indicate that compared to children in comparison areas, rural children in treatment areas were more likely to have received vitamin A or iron supplementation and have been bought a toy in the past six months. This study provides evidence for significant benefits of an unconditional cash transfer program for language development in very young children in rural areas.
我们考察了厄瓜多尔“人类发展红利”（BDH）的影响——这是一项无条件现金转移计划，通过随机设计推出——对非常年幼的儿童的健康和发展结果的影响。随机分配到治疗组的社区于 2004 年开始获得 BDH，而随机分配到对照组的社区则在两年后开始获得福利。参加 BDH 的家庭每月获得现金津贴（15 美元），这代表家庭收入增加了约 6-10%。本研究分析的参与者是来自厄瓜多尔农村和城市的治疗（n=797）和对照组（n=399）社区年龄在 12-35 个月的儿童。主要测量的结果是语言技能（麦克阿瑟基金会沟通技能发展清单-简短版）、身高年龄 z 分数和血红蛋白浓度。结果表明，在农村地区，在幼儿时期接受 BDH 的随机分配导致儿童说出的单词数量和儿童组合两个或更多单词的概率显著提高。城市地区的儿童在语言发展方面没有显著影响，农村和城市地区的身高年龄 z 分数或血红蛋白浓度也没有影响。还探讨了与认知/语言刺激、健康行为和育儿质量有关的一些潜在途径。研究结果表明，与对照组地区的儿童相比，治疗区的农村儿童更有可能在过去六个月内接受过维生素 A 或铁补充剂，并且购买过玩具。本研究为无条件现金转移计划对农村地区非常年幼儿童的语言发展有显著益处提供了证据。
