Women and Conditional Cash Transfer Programs in Chile: Dilemmas, Tensions and Challenges

Conditional Cash Transfer (CCTs) programs are one of the most important public policy instruments aimed at reducing poverty in Latin America. Women play a central role in CCTs because they are usually in charge of managing the transfers and, at the same time, they are held accountable for complying with the conditionalities. Although Chilean macroeconomic indicators show a significant decline in monetary poverty, the analysis of the implications of these programs on women's capability development and empowerment processes has led critical and divergent readings. This article will deal with the "social maternalism" aspects of these policies and the challenges they entail for the de-commodification and de-familiarization of welfare. It also addresses some dilemmas and tensions in the processes of furthering women's autonomy, agency and basic capabilities. In particular, we will delve into the relationships between conditional transfers, women’s double working day, the sexual division of labor, and care in a country with a market-based welfare provision regime. This article builds on the results of a case study in the city of Viña del Mar, Chile, as well as semi-structured interviews with experts and in-depth interviews with participant women. The data comes from a qualitative longitudinal panel study spanning 12 years of implementation of public policies linked to the Chilean social protection model.