The Impacts of Unconditional Cash Transfers on Schooling in Adolescence and Young Adulthood: Evidence from South Africa

Abstract I study an expansion of a South African social grant program that, for the first time, extended eligibility for unconditional cash transfers to adolescents. Between 2009 and 2012, the age eligibility for the child support grant was progressively raised, extending eligibility from children under 14 to those under 18. I use a difference-in-difference identification strategy that exploits cross birth cohort variation in adolescent grant eligibility generated by these age eligibility changes to examine the effect of unconditional cash transfers on schooling outcomes in both adolescence and young adulthood. I find that adolescent grant eligibility increases both enrollment and attainment, with the largest effects observed among rural individuals and those with the lowest baseline numerical literacy.