J. Lawrence Aber

Increasingly, psychological theory and research are used to help design and guide social policy efforts. One particular anti-poverty policy that is gaining in popularity is conditional cash transfers (CCTs), where cash is transferred to needy households conditioned on their making prestipulated investments in their children’s health and education. CCTs have been rigorously evaluated and implemented as policy by governments in several countries. This talk presents results from an evaluation of the “Opportunity NYC” program, a CCT program implemented in New York City in 2007-2010. The evaluation is based in a theoretical framework for understanding how, and for whom CCTs may affect families and child development.