A case for expanding child support

A case for expanding child support

Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai (right) greets this article's author, Thomas Davin, Unicef representative for Thailand. (Photo Twitter/@mfathai)
Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai (right) greets this article's author, Thomas Davin, Unicef representative for Thailand. (Photo Twitter/@mfathai)

Thailand is an ageing society. In the coming years, a workforce of fewer and fewer young people will be responsible for securing the country's growth and prosperity. Thailand needs every child in the country to reach their full potential and cannot afford to leave a single child behind. Expanding the government's Child Support Grant programme -- which currently covers only 24% of children up to the age of three -- to every child from birth up to six years of age, would go a long way to address this challenge.

The first six years of a child's life provide a unique opportunity for investment in the child's development. During these years, the human brain develops faster than at any other time in life. Investment in these early years lays the foundation for successful and life-long learning and development. Every child needs this investment if they are to reach their full potential.

The Child Support Grant scheme was introduced in 2015 as a signature project of Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, providing each eligible child with a 400-baht monthly subsidy, which was subsequently increased to 600 baht in 2016.

The programme represented a major milestone in Thailand's efforts to ensure a better start in life for its youngest citizens. Three years later, more than half a million children up to the age of 3 from poor and near-poor families are benefitting from this grant. The prime minister's and the cabinet's resolve and commitment to the rapid and effective implementation of the programme have been highly commendable.

Evidence shows that since the grant was introduced, it has had a very positive impact on those children who have been receiving it. It has improved their nutrition and provided them with access to basic services such as post-natal care. It has also helped empower women in these households, resulting in better decisions being made for the children. Over time, these small improvements will translate into long-term gains for these children, for their families, and for Thailand as a whole.

In Asean, Thailand blazed the trail with its introduction of the Child Support Grant. Since then, other countries in the region have followed in its footsteps. Nepal is introducing a universal child support grant, designed to reach all children from 0 to 5 years. Myanmar is expanding their universal scheme to more states and Vietnam is considering a similar system. Even though there is arguably a greater and more urgent need in Thailand than in many of its neighbouring countries, the truth is that Thailand is in danger of falling behind.

Today, the Child Support Grant reaches only a quarter of children under the age of 3, and it does not cover children between the ages of 4 and 6. This means that many families who do not have the income security they need to be able to regularly and reliably provide their children with quality health, education, and protection services, are still being left out of the country's development. Critical opportunities are being lost to improve the lives of children across the country, and to secure Thailand's long-term prosperity.

The programme's poverty targeting approach means that only households with an income of less than 3,000 baht per head, per month, are considered "poor" and therefore eligible for the grant. As a result, a large number of children who would benefit greatly from the programme are being excluded.

For example, Siripon, a mother of two in Sa Kaeo province in the Northeast, has applied for the grant for her 18-month-old daughter, but she was deemed not to meet the programme's poverty conditions, even though the family frequently struggles to get by, falling in and out of poverty throughout the year. Last year, her 3-year-old son nearly drowned in a local pond. He survived but is now severely disabled. Siriporn is unable to work and takes care of him full time. Her husband drives a truck and only earns money when jobs are available.

Siriporn's daughter's exclusion from the scheme is just one of many examples of children falling victim to the programme's poverty targeting conditions. Targeting cannot adequately navigate the unpredictable nature of poverty and results in countless missed opportunities to improve the lives of children across Thailand. International experience and evidence have consistently shown that the most effective and efficient long-term solution, is to remove the conditions and make the grant available to all children.

It is true that a universal Child Support Grant, that reaches every child in Thailand, will be costlier in the early stages than a targeted approach. These costs, though, are largely offset by other savings that a universal approach allows. The running costs of a universal programme are only one-fifth of the costs of running a targeted programme and these costs are expected to decrease over the years.

With the child population in Thailand decreasing, this cost will be only one-tenth of one per cent of GDP by 2030. Growing evidence also tells us that universal approaches not only don't leave children behind, but also contribute substantially more to a country's development, and promote more equitable growth. It is clear that in the medium and long-term, the value for money in a universal approach is far higher than in a targeted approach.

It is time for Thailand to, once again, take the lead in Asean in providing social protection for children, and to continue to make courageous policy choices. Thailand needs to make the full investments in the country's future that are so urgently needed, and to ensure that no child is excluded from the Child Support Grant. The programme needs to be extended to every child in Thailand up to the age of six.

Let us not forget that it is not only in Thailand's own interest to make sure that every child reaches their full potential, it is also the right of every child to have access to quality education, health and protection services. A universal Child Support Grant will help meet all of these objectives: healthy, happy, and well-educated children.

Thomas Davin

Unicef representative for Thailand

Thomas Davin, Unicef representative for Thailand.

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT (6)