Livelihood

Real independence comes with learning skills, finding employment and providing for the family without outside help. Yet around 1.4 billion people live on less than four pounds a day.

Over the years, Plan has developed approaches to livelihood that are focused on the poorest children and their families, and that have clear benefits for children. Research demonstrates that women are more likely to use their disposable income for the benefit of their children. Microfinance programmes have therefore been developed for women living in poverty to enable them to establish micro-enterprises. These have been shown to have an impact on the well being of children in terms of measures such as attendance at school.

In virtually every poor community, children take on an economic role at an early age. This often means that they are not able to attend school. Some of the home chores these children perform can be alleviated by other projects, like cutting firewood use, or bringing clean water near, or developing better returns form the land. In areas where, due to economic necessity, it is not possible for children to stop formal or domestic work, flexible models of schooling need to be developed. And even where children do complete school, there is often a lack of jobs and parents may not see the benefits of investing in further education for their children.

Projects and case studies