To address the evidence gap in making effective language of instruction (LOI) decisions, we propose a systematic review of the role of LOI choices in education programs and policies on literacy outcomes in multilingual educational contexts in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs). Grounded in a multidisciplinary theory of change (ToC) describing what factors link LOI choices and literacy outcomes, we will gather, organize, and synthesize the evidence on the specific role of the three LOI choices described in the ToC (teaching in mother tongue [MT] with later transition, teaching in a non‐MT language, or teaching in two or more languages at one time) and its impact on literacy and biliteracy outcomes. We will focus our systematic review and meta‐analysis only on quantitative and qualitative intervention studies from LMICs as these have the highest relevance for decision making in multilingual LMIC contexts. We will also only include languages that are relevant and commonly spoken in LMICs. For example, we will likely include studies that examine Arabic to English transfer, but not Arabic to Swedish transfer.

The ever-increasing prevalence of negative shocks experienced by poor, vulnerable households often induces extreme measures as ways to recover from the negative effects on income. Child marriage is one of the coping mechanisms households may use. This study examines whether young people in households that experience a negative shock are more likely to marry than those not experiencing a shock, and whether this effect differs by lineage system. I show that marrying off daughters is, in fact, a coping mechanism used by patrilineal households after experiencing a shock and that these effects are potentially strongest for young women who are already out of school. Conversely, I find no significant effect for young men. Additionally, I find suggestive evidence of an increased likelihood of young women engaging in transactional sexual relationships after a shock as an individual-level coping mechanism. Understanding the mechanisms leading to the increased incidence of these phenomena provides valuable information that can help combat such practices.

Unconditional cash transfers have demonstrated widespread, positive impacts on consumption, food security, productive activities, and schooling. However, the evidence to date on cash transfers and health seeking behaviours and morbidity is not only mixed, but the evidence base is biased towards conditional programmes from Latin America and is more limited in the context of Africa. Given contextual and programmatic design differences between the regions, more evidence from Africa is warranted. We investigate the impact of unconditional cash transfers on morbidity and health seeking behaviour using data from experimental and quasi-experimental study designs of five government cash transfer programs in Ghana, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Programme impacts were estimated using Difference-in-Differences (DiD) models with longitudinal data. The results indicate positive programme impacts on health seeking when ill and health expenditures. Our findings suggest that while unconditional cash transfers can improve health seeking when ill, morbidity impacts were mixed. More research is needed on longer-term impacts, mechanisms of impact, and moderating factors. Additionally, taken together with existing evidence, our findings suggest that when summarizing the impacts of CTs on health, findings from conditional and unconditional programmes should be disaggregated.

Individuals living in poverty are less likely to save and plan for the future, behaviour traditionally attributed to liquidity constraints and the associated need to address immediate consumption. Recent work on the behavioural consequences of poverty suggests that poverty induces stress and negative affect, which themselves directly influence economic decisions. We test this hypothesis using evaluation data from a national cash transfer program in Malawi in which some eligible households were randomly assigned to receive the transfer before others. We find that cash transfer reduces stress and improves positive affect, and positive affect has a direct effect on economic decisions.

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