New York, NY —

As a way to combat poverty, the city recently proposed paying poor families to do things such as send their children to school regularly and keep doctor's appointments. Rewarding positive behavior with cash is already being tried in several Latin American countries. WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez has this report on how it's working in Mexico.

REPORTER: Mexico's conditional cash transfer program started in 1997 and serves about 4 million families. In order to receive regular cash payments, parents must make sure their children don't miss more than 3 school days a month. The children must also visit a health center. Pregnant women may also receive cash for getting regular pre-natal care.

Benedicte de la Briere is from The World Bank Organization which provides loans and technical support for programs across Latin America. She says at first the government was concerned families would stop working once they received money.

DE LA BRIERE: That proved unfounded. The adults didn't modify their participation in the labor force but the children started to work less.

REPORTER: De la Briere credits the program with increasing the number of children who attend school regularly and with raising the birth weight of newborns.

The use of conditional cash transfers in New York City is still being analyzed. Several city agencies are currently looking at ways to implement it and the city wants to raise money from the private sector to fund it.