Conditional Cash Transfer programmes (CCTs) have been at the core of theremarkable expansion of social protection in Latin America in the earlytwenty-first century. Our article reviews the origins of CCTs in the SocialInvestment (SI) approach to social policy design, explores their characteristicsand traces their expansion in Latin America. It further questions whether CCTsdesigned under the influence of SI can generate long-term substantialimprovements in social outcomes. Our analysis suggests that while CCTs haveevidently produced a number of positive outputs they are not, on their own,enough to achieve the aim of reducing poverty. CCTs appear to be more effectivein poverty alleviation when they are accompanied by – or form part of– a wider package of measures that enhance social and employmentrights, integrating workers into the formal economy under better conditions. Weconclude that unless the structural deficiencies that shape many of the LatinAmerican welfare regimes are addressed, the potential of social investmentpolicies, like CCTs, to combat poverty will remain limited.
