I will be introducing PROGRESA, going over the benefits, the costs or the cash transfer schedule. Evaluating the demand and supply side interventions and conclusion.
Introduced by the federal government of Mexico in 1997. Before Progresa, poverty was so severe, especially in rural areas, that a third of the Mexican people could not afford adequate food. Unlike other earlier social programs in Mexico, PROGRESA contains focuses on 3 objectives. Improve the educational, health, and nutritional status of poor families.
For my final paper I’m only looking at the education component.
SO. Cash transfers are given to mothers every two months and all children between 7 and 18 years of age are eligible for these subsidies.
To receive the grant, parents must enroll their children in school and ensure regular attendance (maintain a minimum attendance rate of 85% both monthly and annually)
Slide 2
Benefits of education are enormous, but just to name a few:
More specifically:
By making it a part of their policy to give the grants only to the women of the family, progresa aims to increase the power and status of women in their families and communities through the regular source of cash
Slide 3
Graph shows the school enrollment and labor force participation of boys before PROGRESA.
Mexico’s children typically maintain a high enrollment rate in primary school of about 93%. But for the rural poor, education stops there. They begin dropping out of school after completing the sixth grade when enrollment rates decline to 55 percent.
Slide 4
The same is the case for girls. Even though labor participation rate of girls is pretty low prior to program implementation, it increases at the same time as the school enrollment rates drop.
Slide 5
Cash transfer schedule lists the benefits that are given out every 2 months. The monthly amount varies by age and sex of the child.
In poor areas of Mexico, girls tend to drop out earlier than boys. In order to reverse this tendency, PROGRESA grants were structured to be about 15 percent higher in the secondary school level for girls.
The most critical objective of PROGRESA’s education program is to increase the transition of poor rural youth into secondary school (grades 7-9). Because of which, educational grants for enrolling in the first year of junior secondary school increase by 75 pesos in the case of boys and 85 pesos in the case of girls.
Slide 6:
After a number of studies and statistical tests, it was concluded that in all cases PROGRESA had a positive enrollment effect for both boys and girls at the primary and secondary level.
In Bettie’s analysis of Mexican-American and white girls, she finds that race, gender and class are extremely crucial in the outcomes and futures of these girls. The unmentioned and hidden effects of class, race, and gender provide the explanation for much of the inequality seen between the white middle-class girls and Mexican-American working-class girls. Much of this inequality is itself perpetuated within the school system, both by the faculty and students.
The federal government has established general guidelines for providing and administering State Children’s Health Insurance. Immunizations and well/baby and well/child care is provided at no cost in every state. Eligibility requirements to receive State Children’s Health Insurance benefits, scopes, and services are determined by each individual state following federal government guidelines. Federal guidelines followed by every state that an individual must meet to receive benefits include: 19 years or younger in age, not covered by health insurance, including Medicaid and must be a US Citizen, legal alien, or permanent resident (“Benefits Details,” Benefits.gov,
Who is eligible for this program? Food Stamps are for “individuals who work for low wages, the elderly or disabled and have small income ...” (Cornell). Most do not realize this, but the students working their way through school and living away from home are eligible. The qualifications of the individual or family wanting to get into the program dictates how much they would receive. Some of the basic eligibility req...
The state does not pay your entire bill. They subsidize your cost. In general, the assistance is for those that meet low income guidelines and who need help while they are attending job training programs, school or working. Having the availability of these programs helps student parents make better decisions. For example: over 80 percent of students attending Community college said that the availability of on-campus child care was very important in the decision to attend a college. 46 percent of students said that on-campus child care was their first priority when enrolling. 60 percent of students said that they could not have continued college without on-campus child care and 95 percent said that child care allowed them to increase their class load. Federal and state grants for child care for low-income parent’s average $4,600 per
In 1994, the Early Head Start Program was established, because it was determined that children from birth to t...
In Mexico, thanks to the corrupt government and the bad economy, most of the free public programs lack the capacity to accomplish the goals that it set to them. Programs such as the public schools lack the capacity to keep up with private sectors and even worst, most of them can’t even stay in the standards set by the same governments. Although both public schools and private schools in Mexico are meant to educate students, the experience of education is different, due to the differences in the way they manage the resources of the school and the way it’s ruled.
Garcia and Garcia (2012) point out that research from the 1960’s has found that the Hispanic achievement is lower than the achievement of Whites in all or most socio-economic levels across the K-12 school years. Furthermore, Garcia and Garcia (2012) report that the within-class gaps are larger at the high socio-economic levels than at the low socio-economic
Mangel, Linda. "Teen Pregnancy, Discrimination, and the Dropout Rate." American Civil Liberties Union of Washington. 25 Oct. 2010. Web. 12 Feb. 2012.
If they're accepted, they will be asked to bring in any children that they want on the program to receive the benefits, too.
As we have seen it the previous sections, Mexico and the U.S. share different conditions: geographical locations, producing and exporting economies and richness of their natural resources. Both countries have implemented successful bilateral agreements which have bring benefits from both nations; nonetheless, it seems that the relations among both countries only flourished in the commercial and political sectors leaving aside other others. For example, the educational one. For this reason, Mexico and the U.S. have implemented the Proyecta 100 Mil Initiative.
Growing up in a low-income Mexican lifestyle proved to be difficult in my journey to become a successful student. Since I was a kid going into kindergarten, I understood the pain that my parents went through each day to set a better future for me. I knew that going to school was my only opportunity to give my parents and I a happier life. I started school late because of my late birthday and my mom’s excessive worry that I was not ready for school yet. Even though neither me nor my parents knew how to speak English, I felt the sudden urge to fulfill my dream of obtaining an education. I knew that I had to start somewhere to fulfill that dream no matter the ‘impossible’ obstacles I had to overcome.
Children from low-income families face a dual problem of fewer educational advantages during their life. In Longs, South Carolina, a Catholic school exist which many parents send their children for the best education possible instead of public school. Schools across the United States have numerous difficulties of youth not attending and graduating high school. Parents either know of or have witnessed illegal activity within a vicinity of public schools. The literature that is provided to teach these children is not efficient and effective. Many low-income families have no choice in the matter because they cannot afford the fees for attendance to private schools. Some families have the opportunity of obtaining a voucher that helps pay for the tuition. Many see this voucher as a way of abandoning public school instead of trying to fix it. Whatever the advantages of education for young people, many are not attending school on a regular basis. Many studies have been done that confirm that there is a vast difference in academic performance between children from high and low-income communities. Education is necessary but education alone does not make it equal between the privilege and poor children as many think it should. Decreasing poverty and inequality first, will raise educational enrollment and performance of students to succeed without regard to their environment situations, race, and gender.
Mexico is a country that has progressed much over the years. Although it has had many advancements, the country is still facing many problems. One problem that is still affecting many that are living there is famine. ”Sixty million people, half the Mexican population, live in poverty, and 20 million of them live in extreme poverty” (Eslbee). There are many reasons as to why famine exists in such a high number in Mexico. The one most obvious reason would be poverty. I feel that famine due to poverty has dictated Mexico more that it has in any country.
In order to qualify for this benefit, the person who claimed need to meet the low-income levels in the state where he/she lives, go through a background check, need to be citizen or legal resident of the United States. The waiting time to receive this benefit may vary. In most of the cases, the waiting lists are long. So, as recommendation, if the person who is asking for this benefit is flexible about he/she live, would be a good idea to apply to more places, as a result, more choices will be
To reach the universal education goal for all children, special efforts should be clearly made by policymakers like addressing the social, economic...