Social Protection Policies and Programmes

Poverty affects both the quality and length of children’s lives, reduces the ability of families to adequately provide for their children, and is a significant cause of family breakdown and child separation. Social assistance programmes aim to reduce child poverty and act as a safety net for families with minimal resources.

Such programmes include in-kind and in-cash transfers, and food for work initiatives. Social assistance programmes are a part of social welfare and must include clear child care policies that protect children and strengthen family and community capacities to access services and provide care.

Cash transfers are a means of financially supporting the most vulnerable households to improve the child’s access to essential goods and services, such as health and education. They include the use of child support grants, child and family allowances and targeted and conditional cash transfers. They may be combined with investment in child education and health services, and redistributive tax policies.

In-kind transfers provide access to essential goods and services instead of cash payments. Conditional cash transfers provide money to poor families on achieving certain actions, such as sending children to school.

Social assistance programmes may struggle to target those most in need, and provide sustainable support. Economic policies, including social assistance, and household economic strengthening, require substantial research, monitoring, and gatekeeping to ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable are reached and that long term benefits can be achieved for families, including child headed households.

The literature in this section provides country examples and analyses of social assistance programs, focusing primarily on cash transfer schemes.

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Cash transfers and the supply of labor by poor households: Evidence from the livelihood empowerment against poverty program in Ghana

Robert D. Osei and Monica Lambon‐Quayefio - Review of Development Economics, 20 Apr 2021

The Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) program is Ghana's first social protection program to provide cash and health insurance to the poor and vulnerable. This study looks beyond the direct impact of the program and examines the indirect impacts on labor transitions as well as the engagement of children and the elderly in the labor market.

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ការគាំទ្រកុមារក្នុងអំឡុងពេលនៃជំងឺកូវីដ១៩តាមរយៈការឧបត្ថម្ភសាច់ប្រាក់ - Cash Transfer

Family Care First, 25 Mar 2021

អង្គការ Save the Children រួមជាមួយអង្គការដៃគូចំនួន៧ កំពុងជួយលើកកម្ពស់សមត្ថភាពរបស់គ្រួសារទទួលផលក្នុងការថែទាំកូនៗរបស់ពួកគេ ដើម្បីសម្រេចឱ្យបាននូវសមទ្ធិផលនៃកិច្ចការពារកុមារប្រកបដោយភាពវិជ្ជមាន។ ដោយមានការគាំទ្រពីទីភ្នាក់ងារជំនួយសហរដ្ឋអាមេរិកដើម្បីការអភិវឌ្ឃអន្តរជាតិ (USAID) និងសហភាពអឺរ៉ុប គម្រោង FCF|REACT កំពុងផ្តល់នូវការឧបត្ថម្ភសាច់ប្រាក់ប្រចាំខែ និងផ្តល់ការគាំទ្រដល់អ្នកផ្តល់ការថែទាំក្នុងការចាត់អាទិភាពនូវការចំណាយរបស់ពួកគេដើម្បីឧត្តមប្រយោជន៍របស់កូនៗ។ មាននៅលើ

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Opportunities to improve the system of social protection of graduates of institutional institutions in Uzbekistan

Zaitov E. Kh, Abdukhalilov A. A - Academica: An International Multidisciplinary Research Journal , 2021

The article analyzes the results of a sociological study of the prospects for improving the system of social protection of graduates of institutional institutions in Uzbekistan.

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Social protection for families with children and adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean: An imperative to address the impact of COVID-19

ECLAC-UNICEF, 01 Dec 2020

This report showcases the centrality and urgency of social protection for families with children and adolescents in the COVID-19 context.

Supporting Families and Children Beyond COVID-19: Social protection in high-income countries

UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti, 01 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.

COVID-19 and Food Security in Ethiopia: Do Social Protection Programs Protect?

Abay, Kibrom A.; Berhane, Guush; Hoddinott, John; Tafere, Kibrom - World Bank, 01 Nov 2020

This paper assesses the impact of Ethiopia's flagship social protection program, the Productive Safety Net Program on the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food and nutrition security of households, mothers, and children.

Connecting Cash Transfers with Care for Better Child and Family Well-Being: Evidence from a Qualitative Evaluation in South Africa

Leila Patel & Eleanor Ross - Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 29 Oct 2020

This study provides evidence from an evaluation of a bespoke family strengthening intervention for Child Support Grant beneficiaries in 10 urban communities in Johannesburg, South Africa.

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Social Protection and Child Protection: How to Join Forces to Protect Children from the Impact of COVID-19 and Beyond (Provisional Release)

The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, 08 Oct 2020

The objective of this guidance is to lay out key arguments for close collaboration across Social Protection and Child Protection to address the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on children and families towards reduction of adverse Child Protection outcomes.

Реализация прав детей посредством социальной политики в Европе и Центральной Азии: Сборник по вкладу ЮНИСЕФ (2014-2020г.)

UNICEF, 01 Oct 2020

This Russian language Compendium documents UNICEF’s social policy interventions in Europe and Central Asia from 2014-2020 and includes 18 case studies from 15 different countries as well as stories from the field.

Realising children’s rights through social policy in Europe and Central Asia

UNICEF, 01 Oct 2020

This Compendium documents UNICEF’s social policy interventions in Europe and Central Asia from 2014-2020 and includes 18 case studies from 15 different countries as well as stories from the field.