Experimental Evidence from a Conditional Cash Transfer Program: Schooling, Learning, Fertility, and Labor Market Outcomes After 10 Years

Abstract

Conditional cash transfer programs are the anti-poverty program of choice in many developing countries, aiming to improve human capital and break the intergenerational transmission of poverty. A decade after a randomized 3-year CCT program began, earlier exposure during primary school ages when children were at risk of dropout led to higher labor market participation for young men and women and higher earnings for men. The _ndings highlight the roles of the different CCT program components with variation in timing of access to nutrition, health and education investments translating into substantial differential effects on learning outcomes for men and reproductive health outcomes for women.