Research Snapshot: Impacts of cash-plus programmes on child marriage

The study evaluated the long-term impacts of a multi-sectoral ‘cash plus’ intervention, Adolescent Girls Initiative–Kenya (AGI-K), targeted at adolescent girls aged 11 to 14 years in a chronically drought-affected region of Kenya.

Results showed significantly reduced incidence of adolescent childbearing and marriage in the intervention group.

The study indicates that it is effective to incorporate short-term cash transfers as a component of adolescent multi-sectoral and multilevel programming, that is delivered during early adolescence. All three intervention groups that showed significant findings had a conditional cash transfer component. The study demonstrated that cash transfers can still be effective in the long term if delivered only during early adolescence which is a critical window of vulnerability.

The results indicate that there is potential to use the AGI-K model to improve health and well-being outcomes for marginalized adolescent girls residing in humanitarian and drought-prone settings, experiencing low-school enrollment rates, high prevalence of child marriages and early pregnancies.

This snapshot contains key messages, findings, implications for humanitarian policymakers and practitioners and recommendations for further research.