Conditional Cash Transfers and Their Impact on Child Work and Schooling: Evidence from the PROGRESA Program in Mexico

Abstract

ver the past few years, a number of Latin American countries have introduced antipoverty programs specifically focused toward increasing investment in human capital, as measured, in particular, by education, but also by health and nutrition. These programs represent a significant departure from previous antipoverty policies within the region, for they are based on the premise that one of the fundamental causes of poverty and its intergenerational transmission is the lack of investment in human development. A distinguishing characteristic of the programs is the provision of cash transfers on the condition that poor families take their children out of work and send them to school.