This report reviews the evidence on conditional cash transfers (CCTs) — safety net programs that have become popular in developing countries over the last decade. This report considers the impact that CCTs have had on current poverty, education, health, and nutrition outcomes. It draws heavily on a large number of carefully constructed impact evaluations of CCT programs to conclude that CCTs generally have been successful in reducing poverty and encouraging parents to invest in the health and education of their children, while recognizing that even the best-designed and best-managed program cannot fulfill all of the needs of a comprehensive social protection system.
This note from the World Bank PREMnotes series summarizes available research on the impact of schooling and employment of adolescent girls and young women on earnings and poverty reduction, demographic outcomes, child development outcomes, and female empowerment. It focuses on the fact that advances in gender parity between girls and boys in education are not matched by similar increased in equity in school-to-work transitions. It identifies key implications of this research for the formulation of public policy.'
