Conditional cash transfer programs (CCTs) are becoming an increasingly popular form of safety net in Latin America and elsewhere. Advocates claim that well-designed cash transfers bring together long-run investment in human capital with (gender-sensitive) short-term poverty alleviation and desirable behavioral patterns in beneficiaries (see Morley and Coady, 2003 and Das et al., 2005 for reviews). CCTs have been subject to numerous impact evaluations, which have shown unambiguous success in increasing enrolment rates, improving preventive health care and raising household consumption.