Child Rights and Well-Being in Latin America: A Role for Conditional Cash Transfers?

Abstract

In 2010 more than a third of the world’s extremely poor individuals were children under the age of 13, and approximately half of children in low- income countries were living in extreme poverty (Olinto, Beegle, Sobrado & Uematsu, 2013). The numbers are staggering, and particularly concerning given abundant research indicating that almost every aspect of childhood is negatively affected by poverty (see e.g. Aber, Bennett, Conley & Li, 1997; Brooks-Gunn & Duncan, 1997; Duncan & Brooks-Gunn, 1997; Guo, 1998; Haveham & Wolfe, 1994; Vleminckx & Smeeding, 2001). Indeed, the UNCRC calls for the creation of circumstances that will ensure the right to survival and development (Article 6), identity (Article 8), health (Article 24), an adequate standard of living (Article 27), education (Article 29) and protection from economic exploitation (Article 32), all of which are threat- ened by poverty. Thus poverty has significant importance in the context of childhood studies.

We would like to thank Claudia Robles, Claudio Santibanez and Simone Cecchini for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this chapter.