Relationship between Socio-economic Characteristics and Livelihood Outcomes of Households Receiving Cash Transfer Programme for Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Tigania West, Meru County

Cash Transfer Programmes have been seen to positively contribute to livelihoods of vulnerable populations in most African countries. Although several studies have been conducted on the effects of cash transfer Programme for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC), few have been done to investigate the effects of the programme on the beneficiary households. This study sought to assess the relationship between socio-economic characteristics of households receiving cash transfer Department programme for orphans and vulnerable children and livelihood outcomes. The study employed mixed methods research design and had a sample size of 281 research participants who comprised household heads. Quantitative data was coded and entered in computer for analysis using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 28. Descriptive data was analysed through descriptive statistics and presented in tables, frequencies, and percentages. The relationship between the study variables was measured through correlation analysis while the effect of socio-economic characteristics of households receiving cash transfer programme on livelihood outcomes was done through multiple linear regression analysis. The results indicated that there was a positive relationship between socio-economic characteristics and livelihood outcomes of Orphans and Vulnerable Children. In addition, the socio-economic characteristics accounted for 16.3 percent of livelihood outcomes. The study recommends that the Ministry for Public Service, Gender, Senior Citizen Affairs and Special Programmes should review the existing policies on the cash transfer programmes to incorporate the assessment of the socio-economic characteristics of beneficiary households before enrolment into the programme. Additionally, the Ministry for planning should entrench livelihood outcomes in their performance indicators to ensure value for the money allocated to cash transfer programmes by the national Treasury.