The CCT program, Pantawid Pamilya, aims to reduce poverty and improve children’s health and schooling as well as maternal health in poor households in the poorest provinces and municipalities in the country. It provides conditional cash grants to poor households in poor areas of the country.

In return for its cash grants, the beneficiaries need to fulfill certain conditions. To address health concerns, the program requires the beneficiaries to bring their children aged 0-5 to health centers for immunization and weight monitoring while children aged 6-14 are required to take de-worming pills at school. Other requirements include pregnant women having to undergo pre and post-natal care and a professional health personnel must assist the delivery.  To improve education levels, the program requires children aged 3-14 to stay in school and maintain class attendance of at least 85 percent per month. Also Pantawid Pamilya requires parents to take “family development sessions” to develop as parents. The monthly cash grants range from Php500 ($11) to Php1, 400 ($32) per household, depending on the number of eligible children.

The Report says that on average, pre-CCT annual per capita incomes of Pantawid Pamilya is equivalent to Php9,205 ($219), way below the national poverty line of Php16,841 ($401) in 2009. On average, Pantawid Pamilya beneficiary households in program areas receive an annual cash transfer of Php6,200 ($148) from the program. With an average family size of five, this translates to a 12.6 percent increase in their total household income.

The World Bank featured story of the CCT program is Melanie Encabo, 37, from Barangay Addition Hills, Mandaluyong City. Melanie is the mother of four children, ages 13, 11, 8 and 3. Having four children, it was difficult for Melanie to sustain a job or a small business because she had to look after her children. Her family was unable to survive solely on her husband’s daily wages of Php280. As her family grew, their expenses grew as well. “We made do but then my child was hospitalized due to potassium deficiency, lack of vegetables and protein-rich food. He was two months in hospital, so I had to ask help from my siblings and in-laws,” she narrated. Melanie’s household gets Php1,400 per month which they receive on a bi-monthly basis. She now feels secure about her children’s health and education. Her household has become one of the 971 beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino program in their barangay.

While the vision of the country’s CCT program is to reduce structural poverty by ensuring that the youth nurtured under the program become healthy, educated, and productive members of society, the program clearly has short-run benefits that are particularly important in addressing income volatility of poor beneficiaries, the Report concluded.