Conditional transfers
Conditional entitlements are becoming increasingly popular. This is where a regular payment of cash or vouchers is paid to families with certain conditions attached - such as school attendance or use of health care facilities.
The best known and most rigorously evaluated is the Mexican programme, Oportunidades (formerly Progresa), now widely replicated in Latin America. Designed to break the cycle of transmitting poverty from one generation to the next, a cash transfer is paid to mothers conditional on the school attendance of their children, connecting with the health services, and on the mothers contributing certain hours of work in the local community. The programme is widely praised for having achieved improved school attendance, putting the importance of girls' education on the policy agenda, and improving women's self-esteem.
Recommended reading
- Recent trends in the development agenda of Latin America: an analysis of conditional cash transfers
- T. Britto / Institute for Development Policy and Management, Manchester, 2005
- This paper analyses the characteristics, design and implementation factors contributing to the popularity of conditional cash transfers (CCT) in Latin America. It is based on an analysis of the Mexican Program of Education, Health and...
- Is PROGRESA working? Summary of the results of an evaluation by IFPRI
- E. Skoufias; B. McClafferty / International Food Policy Research Institute, 2001
- This document summarises an evaluation of the impact of PROGRESA on three poverty reduction focus areas: improving school enrolment, improving health and nutrition outcomes, and increasing household consumption for poor rural families...
- The impact of PROGRESA on women’s status and intrahousehold relations
- M. Adato; B. de la Brière; D. Mindek; A. Quisumbing / International Food Policy Research Institute, 2000
- The objective of this report is to examine the impact of Mexico’s PROGRESA on women’s status and intra-household relations. PROGRESA provides cash benefits linked to children’s school attendance and to regular clinic at...
- The impact of PROGRESA on community social relationships
- M. Adato / International Food Policy Research Institute, 2000
- This report examines the social costs arising from the PROGRESA programme in Mexico, focusing on community social relationships, which can be seen as a form of social capital. PROGRESA provides cash benefits linked to children’s ...
