摘要：In August of 1997, a new anti-poverty program, the Education, Health and Nutrition Program (PROGRESA) was begun in Mexico. The program provides cash benefits linked to children’s school attendance and to regular health clinic attendance, as well as in-kind health benefits and nutritional supplements. Cash benefits correspond on average to a 22% increase in the income levels of the beneficiary families and are given directly to the mother of the family. The program has grown rapidly and now covers 2.6 million families in extreme poverty in rural areas, corresponding to about 40 percent of all rural families in Mexico.
