First-of-its-kind study highlights effectiveness of child sponsorship
LONDON, ON–A recent study published in the Journal of Political Economy concludes that children sponsored through Compassion International progress further in school than their unsponsored peers. Sponsored children were also more likely to get better jobs and become community or church leaders.
Led by Bruce Wydick, Professor of Economics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco, the study examined data from more than 10,000 children in six countries: Uganda, Kenya, Bolivia, Guatemala, India and the Philippines. Prior to this study, there was very little independent research on the adult outcomes of child sponsorship programs.
"We were really amazed at the impact the program was having on education and employment outcomes," says Wydick. "In every country we studied, we found statistically significant and positive results."
The team concluded that children involved in the Compassion International sponsorship program were between four and 7.7 per cent more likely to complete primary school. Results for secondary school and university completion were dramatically higher.
"We can confidently say that [Compassion] child sponsorships resulted in a one-third increase in high school completions," says Wydick. "We find an increase in university completions between 50 and 80 per cent over a baseline of 4.3 in unsponsored children.
"We think a lot of the impacts we identified have to do with elevated hope and aspiration, which is a major characteristic of how Compassion operates," says Wydick. "These internal constraints may be just as important to address as the external constraints."
Many child sponsorship programs operate through a community-based model, where funds given in the name of a child are used to develop the community as a whole. By contrast, Compassion operates on a child-centred model, investing directly in each individual's future.
"The community-based model uses funds differently than the child-centred model, and our research cannot shed any light on the impact of that sort of sponsorship model."
Wydick says Compassion children participate in after-school tutoring and church youth-group activities "where they get a lot of socio-economic nurturing."
"Compassion places a heavy emphasis on developing Christian leaders," Wydick says. "We looked at whether that holds up and a balance of the evidence suggests that Compassion sponsorship has an impact on community and church leadership."
Wydick found that community leadership involvement increased from 2.9 per cent of unsponsored children to 4.6 per cent of sponsored children. Similarly, church leadership increased from only 8.7 per cent to 16.1 per cent of sponsored children.
"When you target individuals, as opposed to a mass group of children, you are able to invest in a strategic way in the child's life," says Barry Slauenwhite, president of Compassion Canada. "Our children are involved with ministry, very intentionally, from a very young age."
Founded in 1952, Compassion International is entirely dependent on individual sponsors and does not receive any government funding. They work with more than one million children in 26 countries.
Slauenwhite says he is thrilled to hear the results of Wydick's study. Compassion regularly conducts research to evaluate their effectiveness, however, Wydick's independent study provides external support for their model.
"Our goal is not eliminating poverty, it is to develop people. People will eliminate poverty," says Slauenwhite.
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