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

Abstract

Evidence from the PROGRESA Program in Mexico O 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.One of the first programs of this kind to be implemented was Mexico's Programa de Educación, Salud y Alimentación (the Education, Health, and Nutrition Program), known by its Spanish acronym, PROGRESA.Introduced in 1997, the program, which provides cash transfers, is aimed at increasing families' investment in human capital as defined by education, health, and nutrition.To achieve this objective, PROGRESA conditions cash transfers on children's enrollment and regular attendance in school, as well as clinic attendance.These transfers correspond, on average, to a 22 percent increase in the income levels of the beneficiary families and are given directly to the mother of the family.The program also includes inkind health benefits and nutritional supplements for children up to age five 45