Affiliated Ph.D. Fellow, Cohort 2022

Research Interests

• Social protection policies across the Global South
• Social inclusion
• Family policies
• Gender and the welfare state

Dissertation topic
Political determinants of inclusion and exclusion in child transfers across the Global South

Dissertation abstract
A large number of child-focused cash transfers have emerged since the 1990s with the objective of alleviating poverty through social investments, yet with significant variation in the effective inclusion or exclusion of citizens across the Global South. Focusing on actors at the intersection of international organisations (IOs), civil society (CSOs) and national politics, I study when and how cash transfers have emerged with variations in means-testing, conditionality or universal approaches to the provision of welfare to the poorest families. To investigate the implications of policy designs, I first examine socio-economic patterns of inclusion and exclusion in two means-tested conditional cash transfers (CCTs) across the Global South using household survey data. I will subsequently conduct qualitative interviews with key actors to understand the policy process in the respective countries. Finally, I will compare the association between macro-level political determinants with inclusion dynamics of child transfers across countries in the Global South between 1990-2021.

Academic Supervisors
Sonja Drobnic
Merike Blofield