Impact of Microfinance Programs on Children: An Annotated Survey of Indicators

This study examines indicators that have been used by child-focused non-governmental organizations (NGOs), microfinance practitioners and social performance researchers to assess processes that address childrens concerns. Given the assumption that improved household well-being resulted in child wellbeing, there have been limited efforts to systematically track specific changes in child wellbeing. The study interviewed international NGOs, microfinance practitioners and microfinance networks in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. This generated a number of indicators that NGOs and MFIs currently use to track childrens health, wellbeing and human development in relation to the receipt of financial services. Study findings indicate that:

• Majority of indicators were in the education category, followed by health, protection and nutrition indicators;
• Indicators have greater utility and validity if tracked over the time that financial services were received, instead of being collected at one point in time;
• Several gaps emerged in the indicators relating to poverty measures, health, leisure time, development and use of microfinance products for children and gender.

Finally, the paper recommends some indicators that could provide a more complete picture of child health and wellbeing.