Gospel for Asia Child Sponsorship — Does it Lift the Young Out of Poverty? | Part 2

Gospel for Asia Child Sponsorship — Does it Lift the Young Out of Poverty? | Part 2 January 6, 2023

WILLS POINT, TX – GFA World (Gospel for Asia) founded by K.P. Yohannan, whose heart to love and help the poor has inspired numerous charities like GFA World Canada, to serve the deprived and downcast worldwide, issued this second part of a Special Report on Child Sponsorship — Does it Lift the Young Out of Poverty?

Dhitha was once a Gospel for Asia (GFA World) sponsor child herself. After finishing high school and attending college, she returned to become a teacher for other sponsored children. She is able to be a unique help as she was once in the exact situation many of these children are in right now. Dhitha, like the other teachers and social workers she serves with, loves the children in her care deeply and they are thriving as a result.

Sponsorship Success

Bruce Wydick, Economics Professor, University of San Francisco
Bruce Wydick, Economics Professor, University of San Francisco
Photo by University of San Francisco

One of the most newsworthy developments of the past decade on this topic has been leading academic research that proved a central point: child sponsorship works. University of San Francisco (USF) economics professor Bruce Wydick and two associates made that discovery in a study that attracted attention from national magazines in the U.S. and other media across the world. Their study found sponsorship made large, significant impacts on years of schooling and the probability and quality of employment.20

Conducted over two years, the research analyzed data from six countries (Bolivia, Guatemala, India, Kenya, the Philippines and Uganda) for children sponsored by Compassion International. In an abstract, Wydick, University of Minnesota professor Paul Glewwe and USF graduate student Laine Rutledge wrote, “Early evidence suggests that these impacts are due, in part, to increases in children’s aspirations.”21

One media report said about the study:

To give you some specific statistics, it was found that formerly sponsored children stayed in school…

were 27 to 40 percent more likely to finish secondary school than those who were not enrolled in the Child Sponsorship Program;

were 50 to 80 percent more likely to complete a university education than non-sponsored children.22

In some respects, the ministry’s projects are similar to government and international programs that promote education, Wydick and his associates wrote in their 2013 paper, published in the Journal of Political Economy. Sponsors pay for children’s school tuition and program, nutritious meals, health care and tutoring. However, they added, what distinguishes Compassion from most government, international, and some other sponsorship programs is children spending at least eight hours a week in an intensive after-school program that emphasizes spiritual, physical and socioemotional development23.

“In the sample, the average duration of sponsorship was 9.3 years,” they wrote. “So … by the end of their childhood, sponsored children have participated in about 4,000 hours of Compassion programming, including extra activities such as retreats and camps. A primary objective of this extended contact is to raise the child’s self-esteem, aspirations, and self-expectations.”24

“Locally-run child sponsorship [programs] that invest in the lives of children over a number of years ensure that these children do not fall through the cracks. They grow up better educated, healthier, more confident and spiritually connected.”

What’s more, recent economics studies suggest that internal constraints that reflect low aspiration can lead to poverty traps. After the professorial team reported on adult life outcomes, they presented a summary of evidence from three follow-up studies of 1,380 Compassion-sponsored children in Bolivia, Kenya and Indonesia. The studies found that sponsored children exhibited higher levels of self-esteem, aspirations and self-expectations—and lower levels of hopelessness.25

The summary table included such results as the following:

  • Total years of education: Mean, sponsored individuals, 12.03; non-sponsored individuals, 10.24.
  • Completed secondary school: Mean, sponsored individuals, .646; non-sponsored individuals, .449.
  • Completed university: Mean, sponsored individuals, 0.78; non-sponsored individuals, .043.26

Ian McInnes, former CEO of Tearfund—a charity that partners with churches in 50 of the world’s poorest countries—said the study was a particularly heartening one that illustrated why the London-based group and Compassion choose to work directly with children in need.27

Paul Brown
Paul Brown spent over 15 years serving as CEO for ChildFund New Zealand and helping to grow it into one of the country’s leading international aid agencies. Photo by ChildFund.org.nz

Locally-run child sponsorship [programs] that invest in the lives of children over a number of years ensure that these children do not fall through the cracks,” said McInnes, who stepped down in 2015. “They grow up better educated, healthier, more confident and spiritually connected.” Added former ChildFund New Zealand CEO Paul Brown: “It confirms what sponsored children tell us; that not only is practical support important but the knowledge that someone far away cares about them and provides encouragement helps them believe in themselves and succeed.”28

It wasn’t just sponsorship organizations that lauded the study. BBC News interviewed a former Compassion sponsoree named Peace Ruharuza, who grew up in Uganda and later moved to the United Kingdom before returning to her homeland to raise her three children.29 The charity she founded, Fountain of Peace Children’s Foundation, is still in operation. Based in the UK, it provides support for children across the Kyenjojo region of western Uganda. One of 14 children, Peace spent much of her childhood passed around between family members and experienced considerable neglect and abuse. Sponsored by a Canadian family at the age of nine, she told BBC that sponsorship gave her the boost she needed: “It gave a new lease in life, helped me become what I am and to change a generation.”30

Ruth, a Child Sponsorship alumni, now a Business Owner in Ecuador
Through Compassion, a young girl named Ruth was matched with her sponsor Debby who helped her dream of one day being able to attend university. Years later, Ruth not only fulfilled this dream and became a journalist, but she and her husband (also a former sponsor child from the same center Ruth attended) were able to start a tourism business which provides a livelihood for many others in their community. Photo by Compassion, 7 People Who Defeated Poverty With Their Sponsors

Continuing Benefits

Young girl pays attention in class in GFA World's Child Sponsorship program
A tsunami hit Sir Lanka at the end of 2004 leaving devastation and refugees in its wake throughout the country. The slum area where this girl lives was no different. Gospel for Asia (GFA World) began their sponsorship program here shortly after the disaster and it became a long-lasting benefit and blessing to the community.

Another abstract by Wydick, Rutledge and USF graduate student Joanna Chu outlined how child sponsorship programs have been in existence since the 1930s. Over the next 75 years, they grew to the extent that nearly 3.5 million children in developing countries are now sponsored through the eight largest sponsorship programs.31

They said this means that a conservative estimate would put the current flow of funds to sponsored children from developed countries at $1.6 billion US per year, with total international transfers over the past two decades at $30 billion US. Given this “non-trivial” flow of resources, Wydick’s group said it was surprising that so little had been done to evaluate the impact of sponsorship programs.32

The exception: a randomized field experiment looking at the impacts of a Dutch program that funded new classroom construction. The program also gave students in randomly selected schools a $6 uniform and $3.44 in textbooks. That study found that even low-cost interventions resulted in beneficiaries attending school half a year longer than in the control group and advancing a third of a grade further in their education.33

In their study focused on Uganda, Wydick’s group found that

child sponsorship increased formal education by 2.9 years over a base of 8.4 years,

increased the probability of formal employment to 72.1 percent from a base of 55.15 percent,

and increased the probability of white collar employment to 37.1 percent from 19.1 percent.

They also found modest evidence that sponsored children lived in higher-quality homes as adults, were more likely to use mosquito nets (a simple tool to prevent mosquito borne illnesses), and were less likely to smoke or drink alcohol.34

Ironically, even though sponsorship has been around for so long, it isn’t necessarily understood, according to a 2017 study of 1,000 American charitable donors. The study was completed by Grey Matter Research Consulting of Phoenix and Opinions 4 Good, a philanthropic online market research firm based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It found that while 87 percent of American donors were aware of child sponsorship, only 24 percent felt very familiar with it.35

Ron Sellers
Ron Sellers, President of Grey Matter Research. Photo by GreyMatterResearch.com

The Donor Mindset Study found that, overall, 74 percent of all donors believe child sponsorship is a legitimate, credible way of helping children in need, yet only 26 percent believe that strongly. Among people who were currently sponsoring a child, 98 percent believed that sponsorship is legitimate and credible, but only 68 percent felt that strongly. The other 30 percent had some doubts.36

The study also found significant confusion about how sponsorship actually works. Three of four donors believe that, despite what sponsorship organizations claim, the money doesn’t really help one child but is used for the charity’s overall programs. Seventy-seven percent wrongly believe that sponsored children have more than one sponsor, although major sponsorship organizations all state each child has one sponsor. Ron Sellers, president of Grey Matter Research, noted that this research showed a charitable sector that needed to go beyond high levels of awareness to build familiarity and comfort.37

“Most donors are aware of sponsorship and are generally positive toward it, but there is not a lot of real familiarity with how it works,” Sellers said. “It’s notable that most donors don’t hold any of their positive or negative perceptions about sponsorship strongly, but only somewhat. That shows a lot of donors aren’t entirely sure of their position on child sponsorship. … The interest is there but so are doubts or concerns. It would be wise for sponsorship organizations to explore deeply what these obstacles are and how they can effectively overcome them.”38

“I have seen these meetings take place dozens of times and I can tell you it is powerful every single time. There’s nothing like watching a sponsor hug his/her sponsored child for the first time.”

Despite such ambivalence, researchers found mechanisms that allow donors to be able to visit their child (offered by major sponsor organizations) serve as a “sort of warranty” for donors. Eighty-one percent of donors say the ability to visit their sponsored child makes sponsorship more legitimate and believable.39

Indeed, a national magazine story about the Donor Mindset Study quoted Compassion International spokesperson Tim Glenn about the difference this option makes: “I have seen these meetings take place dozens of times and I can tell you it is powerful every single time. There’s nothing like watching a sponsor hug his/her sponsored child for the first time. Sponsors can walk into the classrooms at the Compassion child development center and see the very desk where their child sits. They can meet the volunteers who cook hot meals for the child or chat with the teachers who give their time to tutor and mentor each child. It’s a life-changing experience for everyone involved.”40


Sponsor a Child »

You can be part of the solution that is setting children free from a life of poverty. Simply visit the GFA World website: https://www.gfa.org/sponsorachild/. You can sponsor a child living in South Asia or Africa. You can also find a child who shares your birthday or pick a child to sponsor who has a specific age or gender. Your decision to sponsor can make a substantial difference in the life of an impoverished or underprivileged child.


About GFA World

Gospel for Asia (GFA World) is a leading faith-based global mission agency, helping national workers bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across the world, especially in Asia and Africa, and sharing the love of God. In a typical year, this includes thousands of community development projects that benefit downtrodden families and their children, free medical camps conducted in more than 880 villages and remote communities, over 4,800 clean water wells drilled, over 12,000 water filters installed, income-generating Christmas gifts for more than 163,000 needy families, and teaching to provide hope and encouragement in 110 languages in 14 nations through broadcast ministry. GFA World has launched programs in Africa, starting with compassion projects in Rwanda. For all the latest news, visit the Press Room at https://gfanews.org/news.


Read the rest of this GFA World Special Report: Child SponsorshipDoes it Lift the Young Out of Poverty?  Part 1, Part 3

Read more blogs on Child SponsorshipPoverty AlleviationChildren’s Education and GFA World Special Reports on Patheos from Gospel for Asia.

Learn more about Gospel for Asia: Facebook | YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | SourceWatch | Integrity | Lawsuit Update | 5 Distinctives | 6 Remarkable Facts | 10 Milestones | Media Room | Malaria Vaccine | Endorsements | 40th Anniversary | Lawsuit Response | International Offices | Missionary and Child Sponsorship | Transforming Communities through God’s Love

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This Special Report originally appeared on gfa.org.


Footnotes:

  1. Wydick, Bruce; Glewwe, Paul; and Rutledge, Laine. “Does international child sponsorship work? A six-country study of impacts on adult life outcomes.” Journal of Political Economy. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/670138. April 2013.
  2. Wydick, Bruce; Glewwe, Paul; and Rutledge, Laine. “Does international child sponsorship work? A six-country study of impacts on adult life outcomes.” Journal of Political Economy. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/670138. April 2013.
  3. Margerison, Gemma. “You can’t argue with numbers.” Christian Today Australia. https://christiantoday.com.au/news/you-cant-argue-with-numbers.html. Accessed May 11, 2022.
  4. Wydick, Bruce; Glewwe, Paul; and Rutledge, Laine. “Does international child sponsorship work? A six-country study of impacts on adult life outcomes.” Journal of Political Economy. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/670138. April 2013.
  5. Ibid.
  6. Ibid.
  7. Ibid.
  8. Margerison, Gemma. “You can’t argue with numbers.” Christian Today Australia. https://christiantoday.com.au/news/you-cant-argue-with-numbers.html. Accessed May 11, 2022.
  9. Ibid.
  10. Buchanan, Emily. “Is child sponsorship ethical?” BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-22472455. May 9, 2013.
  11. Ibid.
  12. Wydick, Bruce; Rutledge, Laine; and Chu, Joanna. “Does child sponsorship work? Evidence from Uganda using a regression continuity design,” (pg. 1). University of California. http://eml.berkeley.edu/~webfac/bardhan/wydick.pdf. May 2009.
  13. Ibid.
  14. Ibid.
  15. Wydick, Bruce; Rutledge, Laine; and Chu, Joanna. “Does child sponsorship work? Evidence from Uganda using a regression continuity design,” (cover pg.). University of California. http://eml.berkeley.edu/~webfac/bardhan/wydick.pdf. May 2009.
  16. “How Do Donors Perceive Child Sponsorship?” Grey Matter Research & Consulting. https://greymatterresearch.com/sponsorship/. September 19, 2017.
  17. Ibid.
  18. “How Do Donors Perceive Child Sponsorship?” Grey Matter Research & Consulting. https://greymatterresearch.com/sponsorship/. September 19, 2017.
  19. Ibid.
  20. Ibid.
  21. Zylstra, Sarah Eekhoff. “What current, past, and ‘never’ child sponsors think. Christianity Today. https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2017/december/child-sponsorship-donors-survey-compassion-world-vision.html. December 19, 2017.
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