Study Overview
Mexico’s conditional cash transfer programme, Oportunidades, was started to improve the lives of poor families through interventions in health, nutrition, and education. We investigated the effect of Oportunidades on children almost 10 years after the programme began.
Study Results
Early enrolment reduced behavioural problems for all children in the early versus late treatment group, but we identified no difference between groups for mean height-for-age Z scores, BMI-for-age Z scores, or assessment scores for language or cognition. An additional 18 months of the programme before age 3 years for children aged 8–10 years whose mothers had no education resulted in improved child growth of about 1.5 cm assessed as height-for-age Z score, independently of cash received. An additional 18 months in the Oportunidades programme has independent beneficial effects other than money, especially for women with no formal education. The money itself also has significant effects on most outcomes, adding to existing evidence for interventions in early childhood.
Intervention: Conditional cash transfer program