Although they may never fully compensate for the loss in income, they can smooth their consumption to some extent, thereby decreasing fluctuations in consumption. However, the more children living in a household, the greater the poverty risk and the lower the ability to smooth consumption (World Bank 2010b). For poor households, the strategies available are even more limited and can have detrimental effects impacting their well-being in the future, leading to chronic poverty and the transmission of poverty over generations (Ravallion 2009, Ortiz et al. For the poorest households, subsistence farming may be a viable option.