Gender Differences in Caregiver Perceptions of Financial Incentives and their Impacts on Attendance in a Pilot Parenting Program in Tanzania

• In Event: Gender-Transformative Parenting and Community Workforce

Proposal

Background: Caregiver attendance is vital for ensuring the effectiveness of community-based parenting programs, but caregivers face barriers to attendance. Providing financial incentives can help to alleviate central barriers to attendance. However, its value and impact may be gender-related and have differential impacts between mothers and fathers given gender roles and norms prevalent across low-resource settings. The objective of this study was to examine similarities and differences in how mothers and fathers perceive incentives and how incentives influence their attendance.

Methods: This study analyzed attendance records, in-depth interviews, and surveys conducted among mothers and fathers enrolled in a community-based group parenting program in Mwanza, Tanzania. Sixty couples with children under 2 were enrolled across 6 communities in Ilemela District in Mwanza, Tanzania. The intervention had 15 sessions and covered parenting and couple’s relationships. In a randomly selected subset of communities, incentives were offered at each session to participants who attended. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic content analysis, and quantitative data were analyzed using t-tests and Wilcoxon rank sum tests.

Results: Mothers and fathers shared that they personally viewed the incentives as helpful and motivational because they used them to provide for their families. When speaking generally about men and women, some mothers and fathers shared that incentives are more important to fathers because they cannot forgo work opportunities to attend sessions without compensation. Attendance records showed an increase in mothers’ and fathers’ attendance rates after incentives were introduced, with a larger increase in mothers’ attendance rates. Mothers and fathers explained their attendance increased because the incentives compensated participants for lost time at work and covered transportation costs.

Discussion: Extreme poverty and shifting gender norms heavily impact how caregivers view incentives and the extent to which they impact their attendance. Both mothers and fathers prioritize income-generating opportunities, making incentives an effective and necessary strategy for increasing mothers’ and fathers’ attendance. However, incentives may still impact fathers’ attendance more heavily due to prevailing cultural expectations of fathers as financial providers. These findings contribute to the evidence base on gender considerations with the use of incentives in parenting programs in low-resource settings.

Authors

• Malia Uyehara

• Valencia Lambert, Emory University

• Gabriel Sangarara

• Julieth Joseph Bhoke, Tanzania Home Economics Organization (TAHEA MWANZA)

• Joshua Jeong, Emory University