Absolute monetary poverty defines people as poor if they live below the minimum income threshold required to meet basic calorie intake and other non-food good. It is measured relative to a fixed standard of living; that is, a constant income threshold or consumption level, allowing comparative or trend analysis across different points in time.

SOURCE End Child Poverty Global Coalition

Child benefits that cover the large majority of the child population including middle-class households but exclude high-income households and do not cover 100% of children.

SOURCE UNICEF & ILO, 2019
https://www.unicef.org/eca/reports/universal-child-benefits-europe-and-central-asia

These are quasi-universal child benefits that cover a limited period of a child’s life-course (i.e up to 10 years). While these leave significant numbers of children in the 0–18 years age bracket without access, they are still considered qUCBs as they are an important example of the universality principle which also shows promise of progressive extension.

SOURCE ILO and UNICEF, 2019
https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---soc_sec/documents/publication/wcms_869602.pdf

Child benefit amounts vary across and within programmes. The level of the transfer for each eligible child can vary according to the age of the child, the number of children in the household, their order of birth within the family, whether the child has a disability, and depending on other individual or family characteristics. Another critical distinction is whether child benefit values are adjusted to inflation to minimise or avoid the erosion of the real value of transfers over time. Adjustment rules vary across schemes and within schemes over time. This is one of the design variables that governments use in response to changing policy priorities (e.g. the decision not to adjust values is a common policy option for pursuing social spending cuts).

SOURCE ODI & UNICEF, 2020

Non-contributory scheme or programme providing cash benefits to individuals or households, usually financed out of taxation, other government revenue, or external grants or loans. Cash transfer programmes may or may not include a means test.

SOURCE ILO, 2022

Categorical programmes have a clear ‘child label’ targeted ‘directly’ at children, identified by their age or via their access to or participation in school, or community or paediatric health, maternity or youth services.

SOURCE ODI & UNICEF, 2020

Child benefits are schemes anchored in national legislation that provide regular cash or tax transfers (i.e. bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly) to all families with children. Child Benefits are usually paid in cash (or as a tax transfer) to the primary caregiver for children under 18 years of age. Child Benefits play a central role within the social protection system.

SOURCE ODI & UNICEF, 2020

Children living in poverty are deprived of nutrition, water and sanitation facilities, access to basic health-care services, shelter, education, participation and protection, and while a severe lack of goods and services hurts every human being, it is most threatening and harmful to children, leaving them unable to enjoy their rights, to reach their full potential and to participate as full members of the society.

SOURCE United Nations General Assembly, The Rights of the Child (Resolution A /RES/61/146, 23 January 2007), para 46

Targeting method where communities participate in identifying and selecting eligible recipients based on local knowledge.

SOURCE ILO, 2022

Cash transfer programmes that provide cash to families subject to the condition that they fulfil specific behavioural requirements. For example, beneficiaries may be required to ensure that their children attend school regularly, or to use basic preventive nutrition and healthcare services.

SOURCE ILO, 2022
UNICEF, 2016

Schemes in which contributions made by protected persons (actual or potential recipients) directly determine entitlement to benefits (acquired rights). The most common form of contributory social security scheme is a statutory social insurance scheme, usually covering workers in formal wage employment and, in some countries, the self-employed. Other common types of contributory schemes, providing – in the absence of social insurance – a certain level of protection include national provident funds, which usually pay a lump sum to beneficiaries when particular contingencies occur (typically old age, invalidity or death). In the case of social insurance schemes for those in wage or salaried employment, contributions are usually paid by both employees and employers (though in general, employment injury schemes are fully financed by employers).

SOURCE ILO, 2022

The duration of the benefit indicates for how long the benefit is paid or provided to the recipients, according to national legislation. The ILO/UNICEF (2019) benefits classification specifies that child benefits need to be paid for a minimum of 10 years, more than half of one’s childhood, to be defined as Universal Child Benefits.

SOURCE UNICEF & ILO, 2019

Eligibility refers to the criteria or conditions that individuals or households must meet to qualify for cash transfers. Common eligibility criteria may include: geographical location; age; residency/citizenship; categorical criteria; income level; employment status. In practice, there can be overlaps between these approaches, for example a transfer may be targeted to children in households below a particular income threshold and based in a particular province.

SOURCE ILO, 2022

The international poverty line is an absolute poverty line set by the World Bank, with reference to the national poverty lines in some of the poorest countries, to measure the population living in extreme poverty. As differences in the cost of living across the world evolve, the global poverty line has to be periodically updated to reflect these changes.

SOURCE End Child Poverty Global Coalition

A scheme that provides benefits upon proof of need and targets certain categories of individuals or households whose income/assets fall below a certain threshold. A means test is used to assess whether the individual’s or household’s own resources (income and/or assets) are below a defined threshold to determine whether the applicants are eligible for a benefit at all, and if so at what level that benefit will be provided. In some countries, proxy means tests are used; that is, eligibility is determined without actually assessing income or assets, on the basis of other household characteristics (proxies such as household composition, housing characteristics, productive assets or level of education of household members) that are deemed more easily observable.

SOURCE ILO, 2022

Child or family allowances that combine contributory (social insurance), and noncontributory means-tested schemes to achieve universal or close to universal coverage of children.

SOURCE UNICEF & ILO, 2019
UNICEF Europe and Central Asia, 2020

Monetary child poverty is measured based on household income or consumption. Monetary measures count children as poor if they are living in households below a certain poverty line.

SOURCE End Child Poverty Global Coalition

Children living in poverty are deprived of nutrition, water and sanitation facilities, access to basic health-care services, shelter, education, participation and protection, and that while a severe lack of goods and services hurts every human being, it is most threatening and harmful to children, leaving them unable to enjoy their rights, to reach their full potential and to participate as full members of the society. (This definition was adopted in the 2007 United Nations General Assembly).

SOURCE End Child Poverty Global Coalition

National poverty lines are either absolute poverty lines calculated as the minimum income required to meet basic calorie intake and other non-food goods or relative poverty lines, defined in reference to the overall distribution of a country’s income or consumption. Relative poverty lines frequently define people as poor if their household income is below a certain percentage of the median income of that country, and they are commonly used in higher-income countries.

SOURCE End Child Poverty Global Coalition

Non-contributory schemes, which include non-means-tested and means-tested schemes, usually require no direct contribution from beneficiaries or their employers as a condition of entitlement to receive relevant benefits. The term covers a broad range of schemes, including universal schemes for all residents (such as national health services), categorical schemes for certain groups of the population (such as children below a certain age, or older persons above a certain age) and means-tested schemes (such as social assistance schemes). Non-contributory schemes are usually financed through taxes or other state revenues, or, in certain cases, through external grants or loans.

SOURCE ILO, 2022

Periodicity defines the recurring intervals at which child benefits are received by recipients, for example monthly, quarterly or annually. Child Benefits should be paid in a manner that is convenient for recipients and at a periodicity consistent with local norms for household budgeting. Benefits are not periodic if they are paid in a lump-sum or as a one-off payment.

SOURCE ODI & UNICEF, 2020

Proportion of population covered by social protection floors/systems, by sex, distinguishing children, unemployed persons, older persons, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, newborns, work-injury victims, and the poor and the vulnerable.

SOURCE UN SDGs (UNDESA)

Benefits paid to all children for a limited period of the life course (e.g. ages 0–2). These are considered qUCBs as they leave significant numbers of children in the 0–18 age bracket without access, yet still exhibit an important example of the universality principle, albeit in age-restricted form.

SOURCE UNICEF & ILO, 2019
UNICEF Europe and Central Asia, 2020

Contributory social protection scheme that guarantees protection through an insurance mechanism, based on: (1) the payment of contributions before the occurrence of the insured contingency; (2) the sharing or “pooling” of risk; and (3) the notion of a guarantee. Many contributory social security schemes are presented and described as “insurance” schemes (usually “social insurance schemes”), despite being of mixed character, with some non-contributory elements in entitlement to benefits; this allows for a more equitable distribution of benefits, particularly for those with low incomes and short or broken work careers, among others. These non-contributory elements take various forms, being financed either by other contributors (redistribution within the scheme) or by the State.

SOURCE ILO, 2022

Social protection is a universal human right and covers the range of policies and programmes needed to reduce the lifelong consequences of poverty and exclusion. Programmes like cash transfers – including child grants, school meals, skills development and more – help connect families with health care, nutritious food and quality education to give all children, no matter what circumstances they are born into, a fair chance in life.

SOURCE UNICEF Social Policy

Targeting defines the selection of recipients that will be included in the scheme, policy or programme. It is the process of directing cash transfers to specific individuals or groups (the target population) identified as eligible based on the established criteria.

SOURCE ILO, 2022

Unconditional transfers are those that are given to beneficiaries without any specific requirements beyond eligibility.

SOURCE UNICEF, 2016

UCBs are programmes/schemes anchored in national legislation that provide regular cash payments (i.e. monthly, quarterly or yearly) to all families with children. Having statutory status is important in this delineation of what constitutes a UCB, for reasons of sustainability and national coverage considerations. UCBs are paid in cash (or as a tax transfer) to the primary caregiver for children under 18 years of age. The benefits should be paid for a minimum of ten years as this represents a significant portion of childhood. Usually, these programmes are fully financed from general taxation. As they target particular categories of the population, UCBs are also sometimes referred to as ‘categorical transfers’. Cash benefits to households with children depart from the ‘full UCB’ scheme when they include elements of targeting other than age and legal residence or citizenship, conditionalities and when they are paid on a one-off or occasional basis.

SOURCE UNICEF & ILO, 2019
UNICEF Europe and Central Asia, 2020