Shared decision making on cash transfer use

The indicator measures the proportion of households with spouses / partners where the decision on how the cash / voucher assistance is used was taken jointly. It indicates women’s decision-making power and the extent to which the assistance is likely to be used for meeting both women’s and men’s needs.

1) Conduct the survey only with women that live with their husbands/partners.

2) Collect the following data by conducting individual post-distribution monitoring interviews with a representative sample of the cash recipients who live with their spouse / partner (i.e. are married, live in civil union or are in a long-term partnership). Ensure that the survey records the respondent’s gender, so that you can analyse the data collected for this indicator.

RECOMMENDED SURVEY QUESTIONS (Q) AND POSSIBLE ANSWERS (A)

Q1: Who decided what the [specify: cash / voucher] your household received from [specify the organization] would be spent on?

A1: [only one answer possible; do not read the answers to the respondent prior to them answering]

1) respondent themselves

2) spouse / partner

3) respondent and spouse jointly

4) respondent and another household member jointly

5) spouse and another household member jointly

6) another household member

7) someone outside the household

8) other - specify: ………………………….

To calculate the indicator’s value, divide the number of respondents who said that the decision was made by both the respondent and spouse / partner (i.e. option 3) by the total number of respondents. Multiply the result by 100 to convert it to a percentage.

Disaggregate the data by age groups, ethnicity, wealth, and other factors depending on the local context.

Multi purpose cash on its own is not sufficient to achieve empowerment. This indicator may be more meaningful for interventions combined with other program activities for the same recipients. Additionally, gendered spending patterns vary by context and expense; a baseline and gender analysis will help contextualize results.