Mexico's poverty-fighting conditional cash transfer (CCT) program is PROGRESA or Oportunidades, which combines a traditional cash transfer program with financial incentives for positive behaviors particularly in health, education and nutrition in low-income children. The program gives money exclusively to mothers as long as their children regularly attend school and preventative health care appointments. Mexico's CCT program reflects the belief that caring for all dimensions of human capital has greater socioeconomic returns than considering each poor person individually. Improved health and nutritional status is not only important in itself, but has an impact on the effectiveness of educational programs (as school attendance and performance are often negatively affected by poor health and nutrition). This is why poor health is seen as a cause and consequence of poverty. There are studies conducted in different areas of Mexico to evaluate the effectiveness of the PROGRESA program, specifically examining boys and girls. PROGRESA determined family eligibility in two parts, first identifying disadvantaged communities and then targeting low-income families within those communities. . Approximately 78% of households in the selected communities were classified as eligible. All families in these communities were offered PROGRESA and 93% enrolled in the program (Parker et al. 2001). Every two months, PROGRESA families would receive cash transfers typically equal to 20-30% of their household income, if the conditions were met. An example of these conditions is that: children aged between 24 and 60 months must attend nutritional monitoring clinics every four months where their growth is measured; they receive supplements......middle of paper......ortunidades. It currently covers 2.6 million families in extreme poverty in rural areas, or approximately 40% of all rural families in Mexico. Works Cited Gertler, Paul. “Do conditional cash transfers improve children's health? Evidence from the PROGRESA randomized control trial”. The American Economic Review vol. 94, no. 2. San Diego: American Economic Association (2004), pp. 336-341.Parker, Emmanuel Skoufias et al. “Conditional Cash Transfers and Their Impact on Child Labor and Schooling: Evidence from the PROGRESA Program in Mexico.” Economy vol. 2, no. 1. Washington: Brookings Institution Press (2001). pp. 46-96. Lagarde, Mylene, Andy Haines and Natasha Palmer. “Conditional cash transfers to improve the uptake of health interventions in low- and middle-income countries.” The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Vol. 298, n. 16. (2007). page. 1900-10.