Empowerment Through Poverty Policy: The Evolution of Conditional Cash Transfer Programs in Mexico

I examine the family of Conditional Cash Transfer Programs (CCTs) in Mexico comprised of Progresa, Oportunidades, and Prospera - hereafter the Program. CCT programs encourage human capital investment in children while providing monetary support to recipients for their immediate needs. I first examine the evolution of the Program from its introduction in 1997 to 2017. I use qualitative primary and secondary research to track the progress of the Program. Oaxaca is used as a case study owing to its high levels of poverty and high concentration of Indigenous citizens. Primary data on poverty in Mexico and Oaxaca is used to contextualized my argument that the Program has failed to meaningfully address poverty in Oaxaca. ENCASEH survey data is then used to examine the outcomes of the program and deconstruct the issues causing its failure. I adopt a composite critical Marxist-Feminist framework with considerations of indigeneity for analysis of the Program.