| In the second half of the twentieth century, many developing countries adopted broad social assistance programs, like food subsidies, ostensibly designed to help poor people. Their effectiveness was mixed and, unfortunately, many of these expensive programs did not make much difference in the lives of poor people, much less help them climb permanently out of poverty. In the 1990s Mexico took a completely new approach. It launched a social program— PROGRESA—that was revolutionary in two ways. First, PROGRESA aimed to integrate interventions in health, education, and nutrition simultaneously, based on an understanding that these dimensions of human welfare are interdependent and that poor health, education, and nutrition are both causes and consequences of... |
