The Effects on Children's Well‐Being of Ecuador's Conditional Cash Transfer “Bono de Desarrollo Humano”

Ecuador's conditional cash transfer program, Bono de Desarrollo Humano (BDH), reaches more than 400,000 households with children, providing economic assistance to these families. Even though there are no official results of the program regarding how many people left poverty due to the BDH, national social indicators show that coverage of basic education has expanded, while child labor has increased at the national level, especially in rural areas where child labor is more severe, suggesting that these children are at risk of living in poverty as adults. Even though data show improvement in school enrollment and infant mortality, the BDH program should engage parents and educate them to raise their children, emphasizing that the main purpose of the program is focused on children's well‐being. Also, there is a need to create sustainable programs to allow BDH beneficiaries to exit the program and foster upward mobility by creating labor opportunities in the formal sector. Although there have been improvements in the program such as additional services, and larger coverage of the vulnerable population, the BDH still has some flaws. Like other conditional cash transfers in the region, the BDH has become one of the government's flagship poverty‐alleviation programs. However, the program needs to include an evaluation process of its results.