Conditional cash transfers and their impact on child work and schooling: evidence from the PROGRESA program in Mexico
In this paper we investigate whether a conditional cash transfer program such as the Programa Nacional de Educación, Salud y Alimentación (PROGRESA) can simultaneously combat the problems of low school attendance and child work. PROGRESA is a new program of the Mexican government aimed at alleviatin...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | Inglés |
| Published: |
International Food Policy Research Institute
2001
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/155690 |
| _version_ | 1855520181181218816 |
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| author | Skoufias, Emmanuel Parker, Susan W. |
| author_browse | Parker, Susan W. Skoufias, Emmanuel |
| author_facet | Skoufias, Emmanuel Parker, Susan W. |
| author_sort | Skoufias, Emmanuel |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | In this paper we investigate whether a conditional cash transfer program such as the Programa Nacional de Educación, Salud y Alimentación (PROGRESA) can simultaneously combat the problems of low school attendance and child work. PROGRESA is a new program of the Mexican government aimed at alleviating extreme poverty in rural areas. It combats the different causes of poverty by providing cash benefits that are targeted directly to households on the condition of children attending school and visiting health clinics on a regular basis. Some of the questions addressed are as follows: Does the program reduce child labor? Does it increase participation in school activities? Does the latter occur at the expense of children's leisure time? And how do the effects of the program vary by age group and gender? Our empirical analysis relies on data from a quasi-experimental design used to evaluate the impact of the program involving a sample of communities that receive PROGRESA benefits (treatment) and comparable communities that receive benefits at a later time (control). We estimate the effect of “treatment on the treated” using both double-difference and cross sectional difference estimators. Our estimates show significant increases in the school attendance of boys and girls that are accompanied by significant reductions in the participation of boys and girls in work activities. We also find that the program has a lower impact on the incidence of work for girls relative to boys. |
| format | Brief |
| id | CGSpace155690 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2001 |
| publishDateRange | 2001 |
| publishDateSort | 2001 |
| publisher | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| publisherStr | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1556902025-04-08T18:30:25Z Conditional cash transfers and their impact on child work and schooling: evidence from the PROGRESA program in Mexico Skoufias, Emmanuel Parker, Susan W. cash transfers income public health children poverty aid programmes gender education impact assessment In this paper we investigate whether a conditional cash transfer program such as the Programa Nacional de Educación, Salud y Alimentación (PROGRESA) can simultaneously combat the problems of low school attendance and child work. PROGRESA is a new program of the Mexican government aimed at alleviating extreme poverty in rural areas. It combats the different causes of poverty by providing cash benefits that are targeted directly to households on the condition of children attending school and visiting health clinics on a regular basis. Some of the questions addressed are as follows: Does the program reduce child labor? Does it increase participation in school activities? Does the latter occur at the expense of children's leisure time? And how do the effects of the program vary by age group and gender? Our empirical analysis relies on data from a quasi-experimental design used to evaluate the impact of the program involving a sample of communities that receive PROGRESA benefits (treatment) and comparable communities that receive benefits at a later time (control). We estimate the effect of “treatment on the treated” using both double-difference and cross sectional difference estimators. Our estimates show significant increases in the school attendance of boys and girls that are accompanied by significant reductions in the participation of boys and girls in work activities. We also find that the program has a lower impact on the incidence of work for girls relative to boys. 2001 2024-10-24T12:42:26Z 2024-10-24T12:42:26Z Brief https://hdl.handle.net/10568/155690 en Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Skoufias, Emmanuel; Parker, Susan W. 2001. Conditional cash transfers and their impact on child work and schooling: evidence from the PROGRESA program in Mexico. FCND Discussion Paper brief 123. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/155690 |
| spellingShingle | cash transfers income public health children poverty aid programmes gender education impact assessment Skoufias, Emmanuel Parker, Susan W. Conditional cash transfers and their impact on child work and schooling: evidence from the PROGRESA program in Mexico |
| title | Conditional cash transfers and their impact on child work and schooling: evidence from the PROGRESA program in Mexico |
| title_full | Conditional cash transfers and their impact on child work and schooling: evidence from the PROGRESA program in Mexico |
| title_fullStr | Conditional cash transfers and their impact on child work and schooling: evidence from the PROGRESA program in Mexico |
| title_full_unstemmed | Conditional cash transfers and their impact on child work and schooling: evidence from the PROGRESA program in Mexico |
| title_short | Conditional cash transfers and their impact on child work and schooling: evidence from the PROGRESA program in Mexico |
| title_sort | conditional cash transfers and their impact on child work and schooling evidence from the progresa program in mexico |
| topic | cash transfers income public health children poverty aid programmes gender education impact assessment |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/155690 |
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