The evidence was uncertain for whether UCTs impacted livestock ownership , extreme poverty , participation in child labour , adult employment or parenting quality .
This body of evidence suggests that unconditional cash transfers ( UCTs ) may not impact a summary measure of health service use in children and adults in LMICs .
However , UCTs probably or may improve some health outcomes ( i.e. the likelihood of having had any illness , the likelihood of having been food secure , and the level of dietary diversity ) , one social determinant of health ( i.e. the likelihood of attending school ) , and healthcare expenditure .
BACKGROUND Unconditional cash transfers ( UCTs ; provided without obligation ) for reducing poverty and vulnerabilities ( e.g. orphanhood , old age or HIV infection ) are a type of social protection intervention that addresses a key social determinant of health ( income ) in low- and middle-income countries ( LMICs ) .
The relative effectiveness of UCTs compared with conditional cash transfers ( CCTs ; provided so long as the recipient engages in prescribed behaviours such as using a health service or attending school ) is unknown .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of UCTs for improving health services use and health outcomes in vulnerable children and adults in LMICs .
Secondary objectives are to assess the effects of UCTs on social determinants of health and healthcare expenditure and to compare to effects of UCTs versus CCTs .
Does money matter? The effects of cash transfers on child development in rural Ecuador.
A large body of research indicates that child development is sensitive to early-life environments , so that poor children are at higher risk for poor cognitive and behavioral outcomes . These developmental outcomes are important determinants of success in adulthood . Yet , remarkably little is known about whether poverty-alleviation programs improve children 's developmental outcomes . We examine how a  government-run cash transfer program for poor mothers in rural Ecuador influenced the development of young children .  R and om assignment at the parish level is used to identify program effects . Our data include a set of measures of cognitive ability that are not typically included in experimental or quasi-experimental studies of the impact of cash transfers on child well-being , as well as a set of physical health measures that may be related to developmental outcomes . The cash transfer program had positive , although modest , effects on the physical , cognitive , and socioemotional development of the poorest children in our sample
The evidence was uncertain for whether UCTs impacted livestock ownership , extreme poverty , participation in child labour , adult employment or parenting quality .
This body of evidence suggests that unconditional cash transfers ( UCTs ) may not impact a summary measure of health service use in children and adults in LMICs .
However , UCTs probably or may improve some health outcomes ( i.e. the likelihood of having had any illness , the likelihood of having been food secure , and the level of dietary diversity ) , one social determinant of health ( i.e. the likelihood of attending school ) , and healthcare expenditure .
BACKGROUND Unconditional cash transfers ( UCTs ; provided without obligation ) for reducing poverty and vulnerabilities ( e.g. orphanhood , old age or HIV infection ) are a type of social protection intervention that addresses a key social determinant of health ( income ) in low- and middle-income countries ( LMICs ) .
The relative effectiveness of UCTs compared with conditional cash transfers ( CCTs ; provided so long as the recipient engages in prescribed behaviours such as using a health service or attending school ) is unknown .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of UCTs for improving health services use and health outcomes in vulnerable children and adults in LMICs .
Secondary objectives are to assess the effects of UCTs on social determinants of health and healthcare expenditure and to compare to effects of UCTs versus CCTs .