Impacts of PROSPERA on Enrollment, School Trajectories, and Learning

Many studies have demonstrated that Mexico’s conditional cash transfer program, PROSPERA, has substantial effects on educational attainment. Nevertheless, little evidence exists on whether increases in time spent in school have led to higher learning in the context of the poor areas where PROSPERA principally operates, which tend to have overall low school quality. This study combines data from nationwide achievement tests with administrative data on PROSPERA beneficiaries to estimate impacts on achievement tests. The analysis finds significant effects on learning, as measured by standardized achievement tests, on the order of magnitude of 0.05 to standard deviation, with larger effects for indigenous children.