Cash Transfer (CT) programmes can improve maternal and child health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. However, studies assessing the effectiveness of these programmes on maternal and child health outcomes (MCH), beyond nutritional outcomes and service utilisation, remain inconclusive. We synthesized current empirical evidence on the effectiveness of these programmes in improving MCH outcomes and suggested a framework for reporting such outcomes.

This book documents the results and impact of the Social Protection Support Initiative at the UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office. The initiative has been instrumental in advancing the development of evidence-based social protection policies in the region. It was devised with the intention of strengthening the amount of available evidence in the East Asia and Pacific region and has resulted in more than 70 research papers in 23 countries in six regions by the end of the initiative.

ilo.org (01.03.2023) This second joint ILO-Unicef report on social protection for children outlines the devastating impact of a lack of social protection on child poverty, health, education, nutrition, child marriage and child labour.

europa.eu (04.06.2021) The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) has adopted the Commission proposal on establishing a European Child Guarantee. The objective of the European Child Guarantee is to prevent and combat social exclusion by guaranteeing the access of children in need – persons under the age of 18 years who are at risk of poverty or social exclusion – to a set of key services: early childhood education and care, education, healthcare, nutrition and housing.

(Dec 2020) This new UNICEF Innocenti report explores how the social and economic impact of the pandemic is likely to affect children; the initial government responses to the crisis; and how future public policies could be optimized to better support children. 

ec.europa.eu (26.10.2020)

As part of Team Europe's response to COVID-19 in Malawi, the European Union has allocated €39 million to mitigate the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding will address the increasing needs of vulnerable parts of the population in the field of nutrition and social protection, including pregnant women and children.

Development Pathways (11.03.2021) As part of recent COVID-19-related legislation, the US Government has committed to provide a quasi-universal child benefit (an affluence-tested “qUCB”) – a monthly child cash benefit where, like in Iceland, only the very wealthiest families will not receive the full amount. This child benefit – which transforms the existing Child Tax Credit (CTC) to pay up to USD 300 per month per child under 6, and USD 250 per child aged 6 to 17 – is likely to have a positive impact far beyond the family budget.

U.S. Department of the Treasury (January 2021) The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 authorized additional payments of up to $600 per adult and up to $600 for each qualifying child. In general, individuals with adjusted gross income of up to $75,000 (or $150,000 for joint filers or surviving spouses) will receive the full amount of the second payment.  For filers whose adjusted gross income exceeds these amounts, the payment is reduced.

Payments for qualified child dependants will increase by €5 for children aged 12 or over and €2 for children aged up to 12, meaning parents on weekly social welfare payments will see an increase in their weekly rate of payment. These increases will take effect at various dates in January depending on the weekly welfare payment that either parent is receiving. It is expected that this increase will benefit some 419,000 children at a cost of €59.2 million in 2021.