When a family is economically resilient, their children stay in school
Under KAWACH, our child protection programme, a livelihoods initiative in Bihar is demonstrating that when highly vulnerable families have a reliable way to earn an income and withstand financial shocks, they are better able to keep their children safe and in school. In Bihar's Katihar district, one widow built a small shop using bamboo and locally sourced materials. In doing so, she not only kept her children in school, but also transformed her daughters' aspirations.
When Rukhsana Khatoon of Garbheli Village, Katihar, Bihar lost her husband during the COVID-19 pandemic, she was left with four children and no income. She started working as an agricultural labourer for ₹200 (GBP 1.5 pounds) a day, when work was available. Often, it was not. Most of the time, she had to depend on local landowners for work, and often she had to borrow money from relatives just to manage food and daily expenses.
Soon, her three daughters and one son were faced with the prospect of dropping out of school. Financial stress also put her three daughters at risk of child marriage.
Her only aim was to ensure her children don’t go hungry and that they are able to continue their studies.
Like Rukhsana, many other widowed and vulnerable women from our KAWACH programme locations face severe economic hardship due to lack of stable livelihood opportunities.
Image: Rukhsana Khatoon in front of her store
With limited education, social restrictions, and dependency on daily wage labour, it becomes difficult for women to support their families and continue their children’s education. This also often results in early marriage of daughters.
When the KAWACH team visited Rukhsana in her village, she was not sure she could run a business. She had never done it. But she agreed to try, and with ₹20,000 (GBP 155) in support she built a small kirana (a general ‘mom & pop store’) shop with the walls and roof made of bamboo and local materials that she could find without spending any more money. She opened it on 26 January 2026.
"This shop is a new hope for me. Now I can earn myself, support my children’s education, and I will not support child marriage again,” said an excited and resolute Rukhsana.
In the evenings, she makes kachri, fried local snacks, and people from across the village come to sit outside her shop to eat. She earns around ₹400 (GBP 3) a day now and her two younger children are in Class 6 and Class 8. This Eid, for the first time since her husband died, she bought them new clothes with her own money.
Ensuring economic resilience in vulnerable families, a factor extremely critical to the safety and welfare of children
Rukhsana is one of 292 households reached by our livelihood programme under KAWACH in Bihar, implemented by our partner Samagra Shikshan Evam Vikas Sansthan (SSEVS). The families in this programme were selected because they were the hardest to reach: irregular wages, no land, no savings, deep debt, in some cases children already in work or already married young. The kind of families that most programmes skip over because the starting point is so far back.
The programme had complementing provisions:
- Farming support: Small seasonal inputs (₹1,000–₹1,500) and practical guidance on cultivation, so families had income through lean months without needing to borrow or migrate.
- Small enterprises: 35 small grants of ₹16,500–₹18,000 (GBP 125-140) for landless families, single women, and the most excluded households to start small shops, tea stalls, tailoring units, and snack carts, resulting in steady monthly income instead of daily wage uncertainty.
- Livestock protection: Animal health support for 183 families, because one sick goat or cow can wipe out months of savings.
What we achieved
The average earning per household was an additional INR 1,430 (11 pounds) per month with some families like Rukhsana’s earning much more. One household that opened a Biryani shop for instance, gained an additional INR 23,000 (GBP 178) in monthly income.
The pattern was the same. Once consistency of earnings steadied, children went back to school or continuity of schooling improved. In agricultural families alone, 192 out of 257 households saw school attendance improve; roughly 300 to 350 children who had been irregular or had dropped out, are now attending school regularly.
Between 120 and 150 children were prevented from migrating with their families during the lean season — the months when families with no income leave for the cities and children leave school. Families started paying for tuition and school supplies. For many, it was the first time.
From this initiative and our learnings, it’s clear that when a family earns enough, their children are safe and able to dream big. They already knew that education matters but finally, they found enough stability to act on what they already believed.
Our KAWACH programme is supported by Mukul Madhav Foundation, Serum Institute of India, Allana, KKR and many more.