linking the receipt of welfare payments to investment in human capital (health and education), he could ensure that the money spent today could contribute to eradicating poverty, not only in the short term but in the long term as well, by fostering a healthy and well-educated generation. This inspired the design of PROGRESA, a transfer program “with strings attached.” PROGRESA was the first conditional cash transfer (CCT) program: It offered money to poor families, but only if their children regularly attended school and the family sought preventive health care. They got more money if the
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