Social Protection, Gender, and the Consumption Patterns of the Poor: The Role of NGOs in Poverty Reduction in Iran

The purpose of this project is to assess the differential impact of NGOs on the consumption patterns of poor households in Iran. The project sheds light on whether the households that receive support from NGOs are indeed potentially among the poorest, how their expenditure patterns vary from the non-recipients, and whether the gender of the recipient and her/his status as head of household matters in the way NGO support. The study selects a group of 20 NGOs offering social protection services in Iran, and carries out household income and expenditure surveys on samples of their support recipients. Half of the NGOs are selected among those that target women and the other half are those whose agendas are not gender specific. Notably, the surveys rely on an extended version of the recent Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) questionnaires used by the Statistical Center of Iran.