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migrant-financed support. The paper argues that remittances can contribute greatly to the well-being and development of a family, but at the same time these can be highly insecure sources of income because the family may fall back into poverty the moment the flow of money from abroad stops. ABSTRACT This paper explores the ways remittances fromNetherlands-based Ghanaian migrants influence economic and social life in rural areas in the Ashanti region in Ghana, both at family and village levels. The analysis focuses on eight domains of economic life, selected for their importance within Ashanti culture. They are: investments in housing, business, farm, education, and community development projects, health care, and participation in church and funerals. The findings are based on 60 interviews with village leaders and families of migrants in 25 Ashanti villages collected between December 2002 and January 2003. The paper argues that most Netherlandsbased migrants invest in housing and business back home, but also support their families with contributions towards education, healthcare and daily upkeep. Apart from direct support to families, groups of migrants have contributed towards various development projects. The indirect impact of migration on community development is also manifested in individual migrant-financed activities that provide needed services to the communities. However, this impact varies between families and between communities, due to a number of external factors that influence the volume and frequency of remittances to families and the ability of home communities to benefit from

This study is the first to employ panel data to examine well-being outcomes-self-rated health, happiness, life satisfaction, and school enjoyment-of children in transnational families in an African context. It analyzes data collected in 2013, 2014, and 2015 from secondary schoolchildren and youth (ages 12-21) in Ghana (N = 741). Results indicate that children with fathers, mothers, or both parents away and those cared for by a parent, a family, or a nonfamily member are equally or more likely to have higher levels of well-being as children in nonmigrant families. Yet, there are certain risk factors-being a female, living in a family affected by divorce or by a change in caregiver while parents migrate-that may decrease child well-being.

BackgroundImproving access to supervised and emergency obstetric care resources through fee reduction/exemption maternity care initiatives has been touted as one major strategy to avoiding preventable maternal deaths. Evaluations on the effect of Ghana’s fee exemption policy for maternal healthcare have largely focused on how it has influenced health outcomes and patterns of use of supervised care with little attention to understanding the main factors influencing use. This study therefore sought to explore the main individual and health system factors influencing use of delivery care services under the policy initiative in the Central Region.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted using 412 mothers with children aged less than one year in one largely rural and another largely urban districts in the Central Region of Ghana from September to December 2013. Data were collected using a questionnaire survey on the socio-demographic characteristics of mothers, their knowledge and use of care under the fee free policy. Chi-square and Binary Logistic Regression tests were used to evaluate the main determinants of delivery care use under the policy.ResultsOut of the 412 mothers interviewed, 268 (65 %) reported having delivered their most recent birth under the fee exemption policy even though awareness about the policy was almost universal 401 (97.3 %) among respondents. Utilization however differed for the two study districts. Respondents in the Cape Coast Metropolis (largely urban) used delivery service more (75.7 %) than those in the largely rural Assin North Municipal area (54.4 %).Binary logistic regression results identified maternal age, parity, religion, place of residence, awareness and knowledge about the fee exemption policy for maternal healthcare as significantly associated with the likelihood of delivery care use under the policy. The likelihood of using supervised delivery care under the policy was lower for mothers aged 20–29 compared to those in the age bracket of 40–49 (Odds ratio (OR) = 0.069, p = 0.003). For their index (last child), mothers who already had 1, 2 or 3 births were more likely to deliver under the policy than those with five or more births.Mothers living in urban areas were 3.79 times more likely to use delivery services under the policy than those living in rural areas (OR = 3.793, p = 0.000). The likelihood of using delivery services under the policy was higher for mothers who were aware and had full knowledge of the total benefit package of the policy (OR = 13.820, p = 0.022 and OR = 2.985, p = 0.001 for awareness and full knowledge respectively).ConclusionsDelivery service use under the free maternal healthcare policy is relatively low (65 %) when compared with nearly universal awareness (97.3 %) about the policy. Factors influencing delivery service use under the policy operate at both individual and policy implementation levels. Effective interventions to improve delivery service use under the policy should target the underlying individual and health policy implementation fact...

Participatory development is designed to mitigate problems of political bias in pre-existing local government but also interacts with it in complex ways. Using a five-year randomized controlled study in 97 clusters of villages (194 villages) in Ghana, we analyze the effects of a major participatory development program on participation in, leadership of and investment by preexisting political institutions, and on households' overall socioeconomic well-being. Applying theoretical insights on political participation and redistributive politics, we consider the possibility of both cross-institutional mobilization and displacement, and heterogeneous effects by partisanship. We find the government and its political supporters acted with high expectations for the participatory approach: treatment led to increased participation in local governance and reallocation of resources. But the results did not meet expectations, resulting in a worsening of socioeconomic wellbeing in treatment versus control villages for government supporters. This demonstrates international aid's complex distributional consequences.