Conditional cash transfers (CCTs) have become key anti-poverty reduction strategies in Latin America. There are different types of CCTs implemented at the national and subnational level in this region. This paper analyses the design of CCT programmes directed to assist female heads of households at the state level in Mexico. To do so, the study applies an analytical framework to make a comparative study of the key features of the design, looking specifically at the way the target population is constructed as welfare recipients and citizens. The results of this qualitative study suggest that, irrespective of the purposes of these social programmes, the design reflects certain values and normative beliefs related to the notion of market citizenship, which also seem to intersect with certain ideas about motherhood and the poor in Mexico.

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