Authors

Blase Kornacki

Class Year

2008

Document Type

Feature

Publication Date

Fall 2005

Abstract

Conditional cash transfer programs are transforming Latin America’s approach to social welfare. CCTs provide money to families living in extreme poverty in exchange for the commitment to invest in human capital. The programs aim at replacing the “traditional supply-side mechanisms” with “demand-side interventions to directly support beneficiaries.” Traditional mechanisms battled poverty with subsidies or direct investments in public goods, whereas the new approach channels support directly to the people and promotes investment in human capital, using market approaches as an incentive to use social services such as primary and secondary education and local health centers.

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