Tags: Old Age Allowance, Social Safety Net, Impact Assessment, Poverty Alleviation,Beneficiary Selection Process
Over the past few decades, the Government of Bangladesh has made significant investments in social safety nets targeting impoverished and vulnerable households. Among these initiatives, the Old Age Allowance (OAA) program is considered a landmark social security initiative, especially for the elderly population, which currently stands at 4,761,700 individuals aged 65 and above. The allowance is designed to reduce the economic hardships faced by older people and alleviate their dependency on family members. This study seeks to address this gap by focusing on the well-being of elderly beneficiaries receiving the OAA.
A state-capacity-building intervention for Bangladesh's national Old Age Allowance program is being evaluated through a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT). In randomly selected municipalities, an intervention with two key components is either implemented or not. Developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Welfare, the intervention includes training local government representatives on national beneficiary selection guidelines and providing data on the target group. The empirical analysis focuses on comparing beneficiary selection in "treated municipalities" with that in the control group to assess the intervention's effectiveness.
ARCED's contributions include conducting the intervention, providing training on eligibility and priority criteria for OAA, and transferring relevant data to the union selection committees using Eligibility Information Cards (EIC), which helped ensure a more transparent and informed beneficiary selection process.
Donors: German Science Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgesellschaft, DFG)
An endline survey was conducted as part of this evaluation to assess the impact of the OAA beneficiary selection process across treated and control municipalities.
The primary objective of this project is to evaluate and enhance the beneficiary selection process for social pensions in rural Bangladesh, specifically targeting elderly individuals living in poverty. By testing interventions aimed at improving local government officials' targeting mechanisms, the project seeks to better align the beneficiary selection process with national eligibility criteria. The ultimate goal is to address challenges in current selection practices and ensure a more effective and transparent distribution of social transfers to vulnerable elderly populations.
ARCED Foundation implemented a field-based intervention as part of the randomized controlled trial titled "The Challenge of Targeting Extreme Poverty: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Bangladesh", aimed at improving the selection process for the Old Age Allowance (OAA) program. This intervention was conducted across 38 upazilas in the Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions between December 2019 and February 2020.
As part of the intervention:
This intervention directly supported the study's goal of evaluating whether improved information and training can enhance the targeting effectiveness of social safety net programs such as the OAA.
As part of the study, data were collected and matched for approximately 8,000 individuals from 39 unions across 16 districts in the Rangpur and Rajshahi divisions of Bangladesh. The districts covered in this research included Thakurgaon, Rangpur, Panchagarh, Nilphamari, Gaibandha, and Dinajpur in the Rangpur Division, along with Bogra, Chapai Nawabganj, Joypurhat, Naogaon, Natore, Pabna, Rajshahi, and Sirajganj in the Rajshahi Division.
ARCED Foundation played a pivotal role in the successful execution of this research project, contributing to its design, implementation, and analysis. Our responsibilities began with the development of the research protocol, ensuring that the study adhered to rigorous methodological standards. We also designed and developed the SurveyCTO forms used for data collection, covering key modules such as household consumption (both food and non-food items), health, nutrition, and proxy interviews. These comprehensive forms facilitated a holistic approach to gathering relevant data.
In addition to designing the data collection tools, ARCED Foundation was responsible for field implementation. This involved managing logistics, training enumerators, coordinating with local authorities, and overseeing the smooth execution of surveys across all study locations. To ensure data integrity and accuracy, we implemented a robust data monitoring process, incorporating High-Frequency Checks (HFC) and regular monitoring procedures throughout the study. Following data collection, our team conducted an in-depth analysis to assess the impact of the Old Age Allowance (OAA) program on elderly beneficiaries, extracting meaningful insights to evaluate its effectiveness.
Once the data was collected, ARCED conducted a thorough analysis to evaluate the impact of the OAA program on elderly beneficiaries. The research examined key aspects of well-being, such as health, economic dependency, and beneficiaries' perceptions of the program. The findings provided valuable insights into the effectiveness of the OAA as a social safety net, helping inform future policy decisions.
ARCED Foundation is proud to have contributed to this vital research, which supports evidence-based policy-making and aims to enhance social safety net programs in Bangladesh.