The ‘Twofold Investment Trap’: Children and their Role in Sustainable Graduation

Abstract

Despite the overall aim of graduation to lift people out of poverty in the long term, programmes remain largely focused on achieving short-to medium-term change. This article postulates that graduation programmes should be more aspirational as graduation can only be truly sustainable when it is an intergenerational process. This requires greater consideration of the role of children in graduation programmes as households with children face an inter-temporal decision-making dilemma that places them in a 'twofold investment trap'; households are required to manage resources available from (1) adult household members and (2) children, and seek an optimal allocation of resources between investments in livelihoods and in child wellbeing. Available evidence shows that this is an almost impossible balancing act. This article proposes conceptual and programmatic considerations to ensure that graduation programmes take full account of the situation of households with children and thereby work towards sustainable and intergenerational graduation.

The role of graduation programming in promoting early childhood development: an overview of the evidence

“…Thirdly, graduation programmes may also stand in conflict with improvements in ECD outcomes. An increase in economic activity for adult caregivers can lead to an increase in the combined burden of paid and unpaid work, thereby presenting a tradeoff between economic gains and caregiving practices (Roelen 2015). This trade-off is highly gendered, with women generally being primary caregivers (Chopra & Zambelli 2017).…”

Graduating Out of Poverty Across Generations: Unpacking Children’s Well‐being Trajectories in Burundi

“…However, participation in graduation programmes may not be unequivocally positive for children. Investments in income‐generating activities as supported by the programme may be at odds with allocating time and money towards children (Roelen, ). In addition, the creation of business activities can lead to a gendered increase in the combined burden of paid and unpaid work for women, who are often the main caregivers (Chopra and Zambelli, ).…”

“…A lack of understanding of the extent to which and how children stand to benefit from graduation programmes is problematic as ‘graduation’ out of poverty can only really be considered sustainable if it is intergenerational (Roelen, ). This necessitates a stronger focus on children, not least because positive impacts at household level may not necessarily translate into beneficial outcomes for children.…”

What Works for Africa's Poorest

“…On the other hand, Roelen (2015) argues that the standard timeframe for assessing sustainability is too short, and that 'true sustainable graduation should be about achieving long-term improvements in livelihoods and living conditions that are maintained across generations' (Roelen, 2015: 25). 'Intergenerational graduation' requires investing in children, but the risk is that the immediate demands of graduation programmes could divert household's monetary and time resources away from children, and might even incentivize contributions by children.…”