Societies have a stake in ensuring thattheir youngest populations receive regular health check-upsand proper medical care when needed. Children whose healthis protected and nurtured have a better chance of enrollingin school, learning, and growing to be healthy andproductive adults, which in turns helps a country'sdevelopment. So how can policymakers and development expertspromote this? Increasingly, cash transfers are being used toencourage families to take basic preventive care measures,including regular health care visits for babies and youngchildren and enrolling children in school. The transfers maybe conditional, meaning families get the money if they takechildren for regular check-ups or enroll them in school; orthey can be unconditional, in which case families receivethe money without any strings attached, under the assumptionthat the extra cash will give parents the financialflexibility to ensure proper health visits and schooling.Cash transfers are being used across the world to encouragebetter use of education and health services by offeringeconomic incentives that can significantly boost the incomesof poor households. Transfer programs can be conditional orunconditional, and development experts are still evaluatingwhich works best and under what circumstances. Unconditionalcash transfers are easier and less expensive to implement,which can make them very cost-effective.
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