This article is based on ethnographic fieldwork research conducted in the semi-arid region of northeastern Brazil and addresses the unexpected role the children came to fulfil in the household as a consequence of the Programa Bolsa Família, a conditional cash transfer programme. In its design, the programme was intended for families and had a clear focus on women, aiming at empowering them. However, the article shows how children became considered the main agents responsible for the family’s continued access to the benefit and as a consequence, how they came to bear the responsibility for the family’s financial survival.