Keeping Girls in Schools Longer: The Kanyashree Approach in India

In response to curtailing girls from prematurely dropping out of schools, we show that inducing economic empowerment of the girl child is possible with targeted policies that promote her reproductive empowerment. Using a conditional cash transfer program (Kanyashree Prakalpa) implemented in West Bengal, India that directly incentivized school attendance to delay child marriage, we find a strong association between the program participation and successfully lowering the historically higher dropout rates post-Middle School. The program eligible girls are 12 percent (7 percent) more likely to be enrolled in or complete Secondary (Higher Secondary) School. Program participation is associated with approximately 5 more months of education. In fact, the efficacy of the program is highly correlated with the length of exposure and the most benefits are reaped by children in the poorest households. We discuss three policy interventions, including directly targeting girls, as they embark on transitioning from childhood to young adulthood.