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Over the last decade, Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programs have become one of the most widely adopted anti-poverty initiatives in the developing world. Inspired particularly by Mexico's successful program, CCTs are viewed as an effective way to provide basic income support while building children's human capital. These programs have had a remarkable global expansion, from a handful programs in the late 1990s to programs in close to 30 countries today, including a demonstration program in the United States. In contrast to many other safety net programs in developing countries, CCTs have been closely studied and well evaluated, creating both a strong evidence base from which to inform policy decisions and an active global community of practice. This paper first reviews the emergence of CCTs in the context of a key theme in welfare reform, notably using incentives to promote human capital development, going beyond the traditional focus on income support. The paper then examines what has been learned to date from the experience with CCTs in the South and raises a series of questions concerning the relevance and replicability of these lessons in other contexts. The paper concludes with a call for further knowledge sharing in two areas: between the North and South as the experience with welfare reform and CCTs in particular expands, and between behavioral science and welfare policy.

Accounting --- Asylum --- Cash Transfers --- Child Labor --- Cost-Effectiveness --- Decision Making --- Developing Countries --- Economic Costs --- Economics --- Equity --- Family Health --- Finance --- Health Monitoring & Evaluation --- Health Outcomes --- Health, Nutrition and Population --- Human Capital --- Human Trafficking --- Immigration --- Incentives --- Income Inequality --- Income Poverty --- Income Redistribution --- Inequality --- International Cooperation --- International Food Policy Research Institute --- International Law --- Knowledge --- Labor Market --- Labor Policies --- Marketing --- Means Testing --- Migration --- Nutrition --- Political Economy --- Poverty --- Poverty Reduction --- Productivity --- Public Policy --- Refugees --- Respect --- Risk --- Risk Management --- Rural Development --- Rural Poverty --- Rural Poverty Reduction --- Savings --- School Attendance --- Severance Pay --- Social Development --- Social Insurance --- Social Protections and Labor --- Unemployment --- Urban Areas --- Vulnerable Groups --- Women

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Transfer payments

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Using a case study approach, this comparative review examines the operational arrangements of child-focused accompanying measures in nutrition and parenting from 19 cash transfer programs. It covers both family-focused cash transfer programs for households with children, and public works programs that have incorporated accompanying measures largely in response to the need for childcare among beneficiaries. The accompanying measures reviewed include: incentives for pregnant women, parents and caregivers to use available supply-side services; the direct provision of child focused goods and services as part of the cash transfer program; and behavioral interventions for parents and caregivers to build knowledge and inform choices and parenting practices. As context for the operational case study approach, the note includes a theory of change and brief review of the available evidence on cash transfer programs' impact on young children's development. The note also provides a set of operational lessons learned and a -'forward look' to inform program design and future research.

Cash Transfers --- Early Child and Children's Health --- Early Childhood Development --- Education --- Health, Nutrition and Population --- Labor Policies --- Nutrition --- Poverty Reduction --- Social Protections and Assistance --- Social Protections and Labor

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Development aid. Development cooperation

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This paper evaluates the effects of interventions based on behavioral science on measures of early childhood socio-cognitive development (and related household-level outcomes) for children from households receiving cash transfers in Madagascar, using a multi-arm cluster-randomized trial. Three behavioral interventions (a Mother Leaders group and associated activities, by itself or augmented with a self-affirmation or a plan-making nudge) are layered onto a child-focused cash transfer program targeting children from birth to age six years. Approximately 18 months into the implementation of these interventions and 20 months since baseline, the study finds evidence that households in the behaviorally enhanced arms undertake more desirable parenting behaviors, interact more with their children, prepare more (and more diverse) meals at home, and report lower food insecurity than households that received only cash. Children from households in several of the behaviorally enhanced arms also perform better than children from households in the cash-only arm on several measures of socio-cognitive development, including language learning and social skills.

Behavioral Economics --- Cognitive Development --- Conditional Cash Transfers --- Early Childhood Development --- Education --- Human Capital --- Poverty Reduction --- Randomized Control Trials --- Social Protections and Assistance --- Social Protections and Labor