TY - JOUR AB - BackgroundUnconditional and conditional cash transfer programmes (UCT and CCT) show potential to improve the well-being of orphans and other children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS (OVC). We address the gap in current understanding about the extent to which household-based cash transfers differentially impact individual children’s outcomes, according to risk or protective factors such as orphan status and household assets.MethodsData were obtained from a cluster-randomised controlled trial in eastern Zimbabwe, with random assignment to three study arms – UCT, CCT or control. The sample included 5,331 children ages 6-17 from 1,697 households. Generalized linear mixed models were specified to predict OVC health vulnerability (child chronic illness and disability) and social protection (birth registration and 90% school attendance). Models included child-level risk factors (age, orphan status); household risk factors (adults with chronic illnesses and disabilities, greater household size); and household protective factors (including asset-holding). Interactions were systematically tested.ResultsOrphan status was associated with decreased likelihood for birth registration, and paternal orphans and children for whom both parents’ survival status was unknown were less likely to attend school. In the UCT arm, paternal orphans fared better in likelihood of birth registration compared with non-paternal orphans. Effects of study arms on outcomes were not moderated by any other risk or protective factors. High household asset-holding was associated with decreased likelihood of child’s chronic illness and increased birth registration and school attendance, but household assets did not moderate the effects of cash transfers on risk or protective factors.ConclusionOrphaned children are at higher risk for poor social protection outcomes even when cared for in family-based settings. UCT and CCT each produced direct effects on children’s social protection AU - Crea,TM AU - Reynolds,AD AU - Sinha,A AU - Eaton,JW AU - Robertson,LA AU - Mushati,P AU - Dumba,L AU - Mavise,G AU - Makoni,JC AU - Schumacher,CM AU - Nyamukapa,CA AU - Gregson,S DO - 10.1186/s12889-015-1857-4 PY - 2015/// SN - 1471-2458 TI - Effects of cash transfers on Children's health and social protection in Sub-Saharan Africa: differences in outcomes based on orphan status and household assets T2 - BMC Public Health UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12889-015-1857-4 UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/24020 VL - 15 ER -