I Got Yer Conditional Cash Transfer Right Heah

In the latest International Poverty Centre working paper, Michelle Morais de Sá e Silva offers a qualitative analysis of New York's controversial Opportunity NYC program. Based on conditional cash-transfer (CCT) programs in Latin America such as Brazil's Bolsa Família and Mexico's Oportunidades programs, Opportunity NYC provides cash rewards to students and families in low-income areas of the city for good attendance, participation in parent-teacher conferences, and obtaining a library card.

In a controversial departure from the Latin American models, Opportunity NYC also provides rewards for proficiency in standardized tests. This, as e Silva explains, may have some unintended consequences:

First, that may entail “leakage” of programme benefits to students who would achieve those grades regardless of the programme incentives. Second, in many cases the programme may come to reward not school effort but differences in family background and English-language proficiency, which is an important issue in a place like New York City with many immigrant families. That would ultimately mean that, if there is significant diversity of characteristics among the beneficiaries (which may be the case with Spark), the programme might actually be “rewarding the fittest”.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the program from a policy standpoint is its funding. Since the program is privately funded, it effectively bypassed any democratic oversight by the City Council or the court of public opinion. This may have significant impact on any future attempts to scale up the program from its current pilot phase.