Colombian Cash Transfers: The Pandemic Challenge

This presentation offers an evaluation of the impact Colombian cash transfers exhibited during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two transfers were selected for the study: Más Familias en Acción (MFA) and Ingreso Solidario (IS). The selection of these transfers responds to the fact that they were, by far, the most important programs in terms of population coverage. Furthermore, MFA remained the prime cash transfer mechanism as regards the contribution to household income during the pandemic. The presentation starts by discussing Human Capital theory that is the framework under which Conditional Cash transfers are rooted. Next, I refer to the economic, labor, and social crises under which these cash transfers had to operate. Then, the presentation offers an analysis of the impact Colombian cash transfers had during the pandemic crisis. The following section offers a specific analysis of the operation of MFA and its impact on the educational and health condition of children during the pandemic. A further section studies the impact of IS as a program intended to alleviate the living conditions of vulnerable Colombians, not covered by other cash transfers. The conclusion argues that even though cash transfers reduced monetary poverty during the pandemic, MFA failed to meet its more explicit aims of keeping students at school and monitoring young children’s health. On the other hand, IS failed to protect vulnerable populations such as informal workers.