Foreword 3

Editorial 4

Executive summary 10

1. Spending better for children: Why it matters and which policies make a difference 12

  1.1. Responding to rising demand for social spending through smart investment 15

  1.2. Unpacking the child-focussed dimension of value for money in social policies 19

  1.3. Value for money in reducing child poverty 24

  1.4. Value for money in enhancing adolescents’ education and health outcomes 29

  1.5. Conclusions 34

  References 39

  Annex 1.A. Economic development, social policy design and child poverty 44

  Notes 47

2. The evolving landscape of social policies supporting children 49

  2.1. Social spending under pressure: demographic change, crises and the need to demonstrate value for money 51

  2.2. Expansion of in-kind social expenditures 62

  2.3. Expanded support for families with children 64

  2.4. Strengthening supports to working parents 71

  2.5. The eroding redistributive impact of transfer policies 78

  References 86

  Annex 2.A. Country-specific evolution of poverty lines, income transfers and minimum wage evolution 93

  Notes 95

3. The value for money of social policies in reducing child poverty 96

  3.1. Child poverty trends 98

  3.2. Child poverty reduction strategies as a social investment approach 112

  3.3. The methodology 115

  3.4. The value for money of social policies in reducing child poverty 126

  3.5. Beyond how much we spend: getting policy design right 139

  References 157

  Annex 3.A. Child poverty rates by country 170

  Annex 3.B. Sample description 172

  Annex 3.C. Imputation of missing observations 178

  Annex 3.D. Regression results 179

  Annex 3.E. Value for money at different levels of social expenditure and GDP 195

  Annex 3.F. Indexation of major child cash benefit amounts to inflation or cost-of-living in selected OECD countries 199

  Notes 199

4. The value for money of social policies in promoting educational and health outcomes 203

  4.1. Trends in children’s educational and health outcomes 204

  4.2. Appling the value-for-money framework to educational and health outcomes: The methodology 216

  4.3. The value for money of social expenditure: Results 219

  4.4. Implications for social policy 236

  References 244

  Annex 4.A. Sample description 251

  Annex 4.B. Data imputations 258

  Annex 4.C. Regression results 259

  Educational outcomes 259

  Health outcomes 282

  Total social expenditure 294

  Annex 4.D. Value for money at different levels of social expenditure and GDP 296

  Educational outcomes 296

  Health outcomes 300

  Notes 304