Children and poverty: Breaking the vicious cycle >> Expanding social protection – and looking ahead Cash transfers can also address some of the determinants of educational disadvantage, helping to break the link between poverty and school 266 drop-out rates. in Morocco, a cash transfer programme led to a significant 267 improvement in school participation. evidence shows that cash transfers 268 have increased demand for education and improved school enrolment and 269 attendance. in addition, cash transfers have been shown to help children stay in school longer and advance to higher levels of education.in Cambodia, an initiative providing scholarships to at-risk pupils from low-income households increased the average time they remained in school by more than half a grade.270 in Colombia, Ghana and Pakistan, cash transfers programmes have helped improve rates of transition to higher levels of education. in some cases, cash transfers and other social protection measures have had an impact on learning as well. for example, cash transfer programmes led to improved test scores for children in Burkina faso and modest improvements in Morocco.271 Meanwhile, school feeding programmes have been linked to increased learning and cognitive development. in Bangladesh, primary school students in a school meal programme showed a 15.7 per cent improvement in learning metrics, mostly in mathematics, compared with children who did not 272 participate in the programme. Cash transfers have also proven to have some impact on child marriage and child labour and on the educational disadvantages these practices entail. While addressing these child rights violations is a complex challenge that demands action in multiple sectors, cash transfers can play a role in alleviating some of the financial pressures that force children into work or marriage and out of 273 school. a cash transfer programme in Panama, for example, led to a nearly 16 per cent reduction in child labour among indigenous children aged 12 to 15 and to a nearly 8 per cent increase in elementary school enrolment in indigenous 274 areas. Pakistan’s female School Stipend Programme reduced girls’ labour- 275 force participation by as much as 5 per cent. in Bangladesh, a cash transfer programme was successful in encouraging girls to enrol, particularly in secondary school, and in delaying marriage. Expanding social protection – and looking ahead every country in the world has at least one social safety net programme in place, and specific child and family benefit programmes rooted in legislation exist in 108 countries. Yet these often cover only small groups of the population, and in 75 countries no such targeted programmes are available at all.276 expanding social protection is critical to achieving the 2030 goals. in fact, the goals include a specific target on implementing nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures to achieve substantial coverage of the poor and vulnerable by 2030. a universal approach to expanding social protection would not only increase coverage but would also reduce the chances of mistakenly excluding eligible households, create social solidarity and reduce the stigma that is sometimes The STaTe of The World’S Children 2016 84