Conditional cash transfers and improved education quality: A political search for the policy link

• Conditional cash transfers are poverty-reduction programs with education conditions.
• Cases from Brazil, Colombia and the United States are analyzed and compared.
• Programs are found to be detached from education policymaking.
• No relation is found between programs and discussions around improving the quality of education.
• Programs seem to be limited to expanding access to education.

Conditional Cash Transfer programs (CCTs) provide cash to poor families upon the fulfillment of conditions related to the education of their children. Even though CCTs have been increasingly expected to improve educational attainment – besides their proven impact on greater enrollment and attendance, it is not clear whether they have had any impact on education policies. In order to explore that, this article builds upon a comparative study of three programs: Opportunity NYC, Subsidios Condicionados a la Asistencia Escolar (Colombia), and Bolsa Famila (Brazil). The article concludes that, when it comes to policy-making, the link between CCTs and education policies has been weak, contrary to high international expectations.