Conditional Cash Transfer Programs and Gender Equity: Are They an Advance or a Setback for Latin American Women?

CORINA RODRÍGUEZ ENRÍQUEZ

Hangzhou

Congreso; 20th Annual Conference on Feminist Economics; 2011

Internacional Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE).

Almost all the governments in Latina America have implemented a Conditional Cash Transfer Program (CCTs), and in some countries such programs have become the central axis of their assistance policies. These programs are important public budget items that serve a significant portion of the population. They are mostly targeted on women. Literature on the subject, cover a variety of themes, with particular emphasis on the impact these programs have on poverty, school attendance, consumption, and employment. However, there is a definitive lack of literature detailing the implications of this type of program on the status of women and gender equity.  This paper aims to address that deficit, by answering the following questions: What are the implications of CCTs on women’s economic autonomy? What effects and possibilities do CCTs have with regards to the redistribution of paid and unpaid work?  How do CCTs affect intra-household power relationships and decision-making process? What effects do CCTs have on the social organization of care, and on the intra-household distribution of care responsibilities? Do CCTs have any effect on women’s physical autonomy? Do CCTs promote women’s political autonomy in any way? What effects do CCTs have on women, children, and men’s life opportunities?