Review of the Global Evidence on Social Protection Supporting Childhood Development Outcomes

This review of the global evidence on social protection supporting childhood development outcomes was developed as part of a wider project to strengthen Save The Children Australia’s social protection policy and advocacy engagements in the Pacific region.

The review focuses on how social protection supports reductions in stunting, increases access to primary education, improves cognitive, social and emotional development, and reduces violent discipline against children in the home. It draws on evidence identified through a methodical literature search of systematic reviews and meta-analyses to identify high-quality single country studies. The available evidence was heavily biased towards studies of conditional cash transfers in Latin America and focused largely on the impact of social protection on children’s nutrition and education. In the areas of cognitive, social and emotional development and violence against children, the evidence base was much thinner and provides initial insights which warrant further research. The review is based on a purposive sample of 30 studies of social protection programmes (conditional cash transfer, unconditional cash transfer and public works) from 11 countries.

Key findings include:
· Providing cash alone is rarely sufficient for delivering substantial progress childhood development outcomes in contexts where these are significantly depressed. Complementary measures such as information sessions or behavioural change interventions are particularly important for achieving improvements in feeding practices, and encouraging a more nurturing approach to parenting.
· Cash transfers for pregnant women and children under two years can make a critical contribution to early childhood development.
· Conditional cash transfers can generate both positive and negative effects on childhood development outcomes, which confirms the importance of considering impacts on programme recipients, non-recipients and service providers during the design of social protection policies and programmes.
· Transfer adequacy, and the accessibility and quality of supply side services, were further identified as critical determinants of the impact of social protection on children’s outcomes.