Scientific Publication

The impact of PROGRESA on school enrollments

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to assess how the PROGRESA Program (Education, Health, and Food Program of Mexico) has affected the schooling of Mexican youth. PROGRESA is designed to increase school enrollment among youth in poor families in poor rural communities. By making educational and food grants to mothers in poor households, if their children attend school regularly and receive periodic medical check-ups, the program seeks to reduce the current level of poverty in Mexico and increase the future productivity and welfare of these children and their families. The program's effect on school enrollment is evaluated at two levels: (1) differences in enrollment rates between groups of children who are eligible and not eligible for program grants, and (2) differences in enrollment outcomes at the level of the individual child between those who are program-eligible and not eligible, controlling for additional factors in the family and community.