Publication Date
8-26-2026
Faculty Department
Department of Social Work
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Nearly 700 million people worldwide live in extreme poverty, and almost half of the world’s population lives below the poverty line. Cash transfer programs are increasingly used to address poverty’s effects on family well-being, yet less is known about how families experience programs that combine cash transfers with peer-driven mutual aid. Children International’s (CI) Community Independence Initiative (CII) provides conditional cash transfers and promotes family-led goal setting, mutual support, and shared learning. This qualitative study explored how families in Colombia, Mexico, and the Philippines experienced CII and made meaning of its material and relational components. We conducted focus groups with 51 adult and child participants from families who had completed CII. Thematic analysis revealed three themes that together reflected participants’ experience of CII over time: (1) Entering CII amid persistent family and economic strain; (2) Experiencing CII as both material support and collective problem-solving; and (3) Carrying forward connection and resilience while economic hardship persisted. Participants described CII as meaningful not only because of the cash transfers, which helped families meet immediate needs and invest in priorities such as education, household needs, health, and small businesses, but also because of the peer-driven structure that supported shared learning, mutual aid, family communication, and social connection. Although some relational and resilience- related benefits endured after the program ended, families continued to experience substantial economic hardship. Findings suggest that anti-poverty initiatives may be strengthened by integrating flexible material support with opportunities for peer connection and collective problem-solving, while also recognizing the limits of time-limited interventions in the context of persistent structural poverty.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Greeson, J. K. P., Gyourko, J. R., Wasch, S., Mallory, K., Fehlig, L., Jácome, C., Yanes, N. D. L., Gutiérrez, F. A. R., Guamos, D., & Lehman, A. R. (2026). Connecting families through cash transfers and an enabling environment in Colombia, Mexico, and the Philippines: A qualitative study. Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/17450128.2026.2723841
