The Dominican government announced the Mother Bonus 2026, the fourth edition of the famous “cariñito”, with which 1,500 pesos are transferred each year to one million Dominican mothers. This seems to be the current government’s new public policy approach: give away money without targeting, give it a nice name, and organize a big giving event that allows for lots of photos and videos.
But it’s worth asking a simple question: can it be done better? Can those one and a half billion pesos be used in a way that truly transforms the lives of mothers?
The answer is yes.
And it starts with something basic: thinking about public policies that attack the root of the problems that Dominican mothers face.
For example, these resources could be used to improve prenatal health care. Ensuring that every pregnant woman has at least four consultations during her pregnancy would allow risks such as diabetes or hypertension to be detected early, and these conditions to be controlled before they become serious complications such as preeclampsia or eclampsia.
In fact, simply identifying women at highest risk and providing them with adequate follow-up—including access to supplements such as calcium or medications such as aspirin—many maternal deaths in the country could be avoided. And the most interesting thing is that it would not be an expensive policy.
Furthermore, better care during pregnancy would help identify and treat problems that put the baby’s life at risk, reducing cases of premature birth and asphyxia during childbirth, the main causes of neonatal death in our country.
Because, to be honest, the best gift for Mother’s Day is that they and their children can live. Not a 1,500 peso bonus.
A second idea would be the construction of children’s homes in communities with high levels of poverty and a high proportion of single mothers. This would allow many women to go to work with the peace of mind that their children are well cared for, fed and, above all, stimulated at a key stage of their lives.
And this point is fundamental. Comprehensive care in the early years—which includes adequate nutrition, early stimulation and educational support—is not a luxury, it is a decisive investment. Numerous studies have shown that what happens in the first five years of life has a profound and lasting impact on a person’s cognitive, emotional and social development, which makes early comprehensive care one of the most powerful public policies to break the intergenerational transmission of poverty.
With the 1.5 billion pesos from the Mother Bonus 2026, between 25 and 30 children’s rooms could be built and equipped.
And giving them the opportunity to work, while their children receive comprehensive quality care in their early years, is a much more valuable gift than 1,500 pesos given one day a year.
A third proposal would be to implement care policies for older adults and people with disabilities in homes where women assume that responsibility. In practice, many Dominican women are burdened with caring for aging parents, children or family members with disabilities, which consumes time, energy and generates a high level of stress.
Supporting them in this task would not only allow them to work more calmly, but also have spaces for rest and well-being, essential for their mental health.
Freeing up their time and reducing their emotional burden throughout the year would, without a doubt, be a better gift than a one-off transfer.
In short, it can be done better. You can think about the reality of Dominican women and design public policies that really solve their problems, instead of transferring money once a year to a million people, regardless of whether they need it or not.
In order to see if the current government changes its way of thinking, here is a simple suggestion: have someone in the Presidency ask the artificial intelligence in how many books, articles or conferences on economic development the phrase “give money away” or the word “bonus” appears. You will probably find that it is mentioned more as an example of populism and welfareism than as an effective solution.
Then I could compare that with the frequency with which the concept of “public policies” appears, and understand that development is not built with momentary gestures, but by solving root problems.
Maybe then, for next year, instead of designing another “cariñito,” they can ask artificial intelligence what to do with 1.5 billion pesos to improve the lives of Dominican mothers. I’m sure the answers would be much better.
Although, of course, this is based on an important premise: that the objective is to improve people’s lives… and not the false charity that Paulo Freire spoke so much about, a form of “help” that is highly effective in perpetuating dependency, and highly irrelevant in overcoming poverty or promoting well-being.
