Targeted Unconditional Framed Cash Transfers for Early Childhood Health and Nutrition

This study will evaluate whether framed, unconditional cash transfers (UCT) to pregnant women and lactating mothers improve the health of their children, as measured by incidence of stunting and wasting. This will be the first randomized evaluation in India of unconditional cash transfers for maternal and child health, and will be implemented by the Government of Jharkhand (GoJH) in eight districts. The current proposal is for a study of the impact of a 12-month long UCT to pregnant and lactating mothers. If the first phase is successfully implemented, the design (and MoU) will allow for a second phase evaluation that will evaluate the impact of UCTs on health of children in the 6 to 18-months age range, and also test for complementarities between receipt of UCTs at different stages of child development.