in addition to this remark it should also be pointed out that the amount of the transfer in relation to the average consumption of poor households is higher in rural areas than in urban areas regardless of whether or not the cost of living is taken into account the policy is therefore more effective at lowering the number of children living in monetary poverty in rural areas this finding suggests that instead of distributing the same nominal amount of transfer to every recipient it is important to find an optimal allocation of the national transfer budget indeed the disparity in the effects of the crisis and policy responses is also seen at the regional level figures and tables a and a in the other three regions the transfer is not enough to completely counteract the effects of the crisis on monetary poverty